CAPE TOWN - Despite an extensive search operation, a Cape Town teenager is still missing after disappearing while swimming at Milnerton beach on Saturday evening, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
The City of Cape Town water rescue network was activated at 6.31pm by law enforcement who were on the scene at Milnerton Lagoon Beach where, according to information, a child disappeared beneath the surf and had not resurfaced, NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said. on Sunday.
NSRI Station 3 Table Bay and NSRI Station 18 Melkbosstrand launched sea rescue craft and dispatched sea rescue vehicles to respond, while NSRI lifeguards from Melkbosstrand were also dispatched, he said.
A Cape Town fire and rescue services dive unit responded and launched a rescue jet-ski on the scene, a government emergency medical services (EMS) rescue squad, the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter, ER24 ambulance service, and the South African Police Service also responded to join law enforcement officers on the scene who had initiated a search operation.
An extensive air, sea, and shoreline search for a 14-year-old boy, from Parow in Cape Town, had revealed no sign of the missing teenager and a police dive unit would continue in an ongoing search operation, Lambinon said.
"It appears that the teenager and a 16-year-old male friend were swimming in the surf when the teenager went missing in the surf after a wave washed over them and he failed to resurface. His friend raised the alarm. Police have opened an investigation."
Law enforcement and a Cape Town fire and rescue services dive unit were assisting the police and the police dive unit in an ongoing search, Lambinon said.