EAST LONDON - A man is missing and another was rescued after they were caught in rip currents at a beach in East London, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Sunday.
NSRI East London duty crew were activated at 10.30am on Saturday following reports of a drowning in progress at Nahoon Beach, NSRI East London station commander Geoff McGregor said.
"We responded our NSRI rescue runner Lotto Rescuer and our sea rescue craft Spirit of DHL and NSRI rescue swimmers in our sea rescue vehicle," he said.
Police and police K9 search and rescue officers, the Eastern Cape government health emergency medical rescue services (EMS), and an EMS helicopter and Aldersons ambulance service also responded.
"On arrival on the scene we joined a BCM (Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality) lifeguard on the scene where one man was out the water, believed to have been rescued by surfers. He was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance in a stable condition suffering non-fatal drowning symptoms."
An extensive air, sea, and shoreline search was conducted for a missing 25-year-old man who had been seen being swept out to sea by rip currents before disappearing under water.
Despite an extensive search, no sign of the missing man was found and the South African Police Service, a police dive unit, and police K9 search and rescue team were continuing in an ongoing search operation. Police had opened an investigation, McGregor said.