Cape Town – A Hout Bay resident was walking her dogs on the beach when she suddenly sank into the ground, getting stuck up to her shoulders in a patch of sand akin to a "sinkhole".
Rita Osborne, of Deep Blue Security, said the woman shouted in vain for assistance from people walking on the beach at 8.30am yesterday. Luckily, she managed to make her way out and was "fine".
One her dogs got stuck with her, while the other managed to avoid being buried in the sand.
"Please be careful around this area on the Hout Bay Beach. There's a resident that got stuck with her dogs," Osborne posted on Facebook.
"Shouted for assistance (from) people walking on beach. No one assisted her. She eventually got out and came to Deep Blue Security for assistance.
"We have put reeds around it and have informed Watchcon and law enforcement to sort out."
Osborne added that the woman was "fine" but "frightened" due to no one coming to her assistance.
Sharon Wallauer posted on Facebook: "So people on the beach don't have cell phones? No one called for help for her? Now that's scary and worrying!!"
According to Osborne, she and two colleagues went to investigate, but said "we are not really sure of what exactly it is”, Die Burger reported.
"It was very scary walking and figuring out where it is without falling in myself.”
Mayco member for spatial planning and environment Marian Niewoudt, who said City officials went to investigate and found the hole to be ony knee-deep, said: "It's not unusual in a coastal area, especially in the vicinity of estuaries.
"Thus it does not pose a material danger to the public."