Police are still searching for a man who disappeared in the surf at St Lucia, on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, on Saturday afternoon.
The National Sea Rescue Institute’s (NSRI’s) duty coxswain in Richards Bay, Norman Rautenbach, said a crew was activated late on Saturday afternoon following reports of two drowning incidents.
“Our sea rescue vehicle responded with NSRI rescue swimmers to join the police and their Search and Rescue units on the scene,” Rautenbach said.
He said by the time the NSRI arrived, the body of a 17-year-old female had already been recovered from the water.
A search for a 30-year-old male, who was believed to be missing, turned up no results.
“The NSRI believe that these were two separate drowning accidents. The incident with the 17-year-old female reportedly happened at 12.30pm and the incident with the 30-year-old male reportedly happened at 2.30pm,” Rautenbach said.
He said police had opened an inquest docket in connection with the girl whose body was found.
They were continuing an ongoing search operation for the missing man and had opened an investigation in respect of his disappearance, he said.