Johannesburg - A German tourist is recovering in hospital after he fell 30m off a rocky ledge at Waterfall Bluff in the Transkei over the weekend, Beeld reported on Monday.
Herribert Schropp, 71, was among a group of 21 tourists exploring a cave at the Eastern Cape waterfall on Saturday afternoon.
According to Nita Ross, spokeswoman for the Mbotyi Lodge where the tourists were staying, Schropp bumped his head in the cave, stumbled, and fell off the ledge, into terrain that was very hard to access.
“The guide, Edgar Pogulis, managed to climb down to stabilise Schropp, while another guide took the other members of the tour group back to the lodge,” Ross said.
Captain John Fobian, crisis manager for the Eastern Cape police, said ambulance and search-and-rescue teams from East London, Mthatha and Durban were summoned to help with the night rescue.
Cloudy conditions complicated rescue efforts, so eventually the help of the air force was enlisted, and an Oryx helicopter arrived from Durban.
After a 10-hour ordeal on the ledge, Schropp was airlifted to St Augustine's hospital in Durban, where he was reportedly in a stable condition.
Sapa