A young boy, believed to be aged around 9 or 10, sadly drowned at Wilderness Lagoon today.
Torsten Henschel, NSRI Wilderness duty coxswain, said that NSRI Wilderness were alerted at 11h13, Saturday, 17th December, following reports of a drowning in progress at Wilderness Lagoon, next to Wilderness beach.
On arrival on the scene George Fire and Rescue Services, Eden 911 ambulance services and the SA Police Services were in attendance with lifeguards at Wilderness Lagoon.
Lifeguards had recovered the body of the boy from the water and paramedics were administering CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) efforts to the child but after all efforts to resuscitate the child were exhausted the child was declared deceased. It appears that despite swimming and playing in shallow water the child got into difficult in a deeper section of the lagoon. Police have opened an inquest docket and the body of the child has been taken into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services.
NSRI and the emergency services convey sincere condolences to family and friends of the child who drowned at Wilderness today.
2 children survived a non-fatal drowning accident at the same lagoon yesterday.
Safety tips for parents:
- Ensure that children are supervised by a responsible adult while they are swimming and playing in water.
- Go to beaches where and when lifeguards are on duty and identify where the lifeguards are on the beach so that if you need help you can quickly alert the lifeguards.
- NSRI urge the public not to drink alcohol when around water particularly when you are with your families enjoying a day at coastal or inland waterways.
- Have the sea rescue emergency number 112 programmed into your phone and have local sea rescue and emergency numbers programmed into your phone. Go to the NSRI web page www.nsri.org.za to find local sea rescue emergency phone numbers and safety tips for water users.
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