Cape Town - A man died and four others were injured when their boat capsized offshore of Kommetjie in the Southern Peninsula on Sunday afternoon, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
The City of Cape Town Water Rescue Network was activated at 1.25pm by law enforcement officers reporting a rigid inflatable boat capsized near to Kommetjie lighthouse at Soetwater with five crewmen on board, NSRI Kommetjie station commander Ian Klopper said.
Four of the men managed to get to shore safely, but two of the young men returned to the water to rescue a man who was missing in the surf, and they were able to recover the man from the water, he said.
NSRI Kommetjie duty crew, Cape Medical Response (CMR), the Western Cape government health emergency medical service (EMS), and marine law enforcement officers also responded to join the law enforcement officers already on the scene.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPS) efforts were started on a 52-year-old man, from Manenberg in Cape Town, but sadly after CPR efforts were exhausted he was declared dead on the scene by paramedics.
The man's two sons, aged 18 and 20, also from Manenberg, were treated for injuries, as were two other men, aged 18 and 25, from Parow. All four survivors were transported to hospital by CMR and EMS ambulances in stable condition for further treatment and all were expected to recover. Police had opened an inquest docket and condolences were conveyed to the family and friends of the dead man, Klopper said.