Teenager drowns at Umhloti

Sean Serfontein, NSRI Durban duty controller, said: “At 17h10 (Saturday, 29th September) NSRI Durban volunteer rescue crew were activated following reports from the eThekwini Fire and Rescue Services of a drowning in progress at Umhloti Beach, North Coast.

“Our NSRI Durban crew, eThekwini Municipal Lifeguards, Netcare 911 ambulance services and the SA Police Force responded.

“On arrival on-scene eThekwini Municipal lifeguards rescued a 16 year old female from the surf and Netcare 911 paramedics, NSRI volunteers and the lifeguards conducted Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on the female.

“Following extensive CPR, and after all efforts to resuscitate the female were exhausted on-scene, the teenager, from Inanda, Kwa-Zulu Natal, was declared dead by paramedics.

“Police took the teenager’s father and sister, who were on the scene when the incident happened, into their care for trauma counselling.

“The body of the deceased teenager was handed into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services and police will open an inquest docket.

“It appears that the female may have been caught in rip-currents while swimming which may have caused her to get into difficulty in the water. It is suspected that the cause of death was from drowning.”

Our condolences to the family.

Spring Tide peaks on Sunday, 30th September, full moon. Bathers can expect the higher than normal high tide and the lower than normal low tide, associated with Spring Tide, to cause stronger than normal rip-currents .

The Spring Tide effect on the ocean will last until the later half of this week and bathers, and anglers fishing from rocks and piers, are urged to be cautious.