Durban - A rope rescue team has recovered the body of a hiker from a ledge 90m below the Tugela Falls in the northern Drakensberg.
Mountain Club KwaZulu-Natal Rescue convener, Gavin Raubenheimer, said they received a phone call from a hiker notifying them of a body below the waterfall.
“Rescue teams left on December 24 at 5am to get to the body. We had a high angle rescue plan. Unfortunately, when rescuers got to the scene, they found the man dead. We had to raise him on a stretcher from a 90m vertical waterfall. The rescue took six hours,” he said.
He was spotted by other hikers and had been by himself. It is believed he fell from the top of the falls, but there were no witnesses.
Raubenheimer said the recovery team of 16 were air-lifted to the scene by private helicopter.
Major Thulani Zwane, police spokesperson, confirmed that Bergville police station had opened an inquest docket and a post-mortem would be conducted. SAPS Search and Rescue unit and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife had assisted with the recovery of the body.
Daily News