WATCH: UPDATE: River sweep at train bridge: Families wait anxiously on bridge as 3 women remain missing
Families anxiously wait as search and rescue teams work together to locate three women swept away by the Klein Olifants River’s sudden surge on Sunday. Three were rescued, but two remain missing.
Families of the three missing women gathered anxiously at the scene near the Towers Bridge on the old Belfast road (R104) early this morning (Monday).
Search and rescue teams are working together in a co-ordinated effort, deploying K9 units, divers, and drones to scour the fast-flowing waters for any sign of the missing women.
The tense atmosphere reflects the desperation of relatives and the urgency of the rescue operation.
Tragedy struck at around 13:00 yesterday when a group of women went to the Klein Olifants River to pray. The sluice at the Middelburg Dam was opened the previous night, causing the water level to rise rapidly.
One woman noticed the danger, but the rest were caught by the current before they could react. Three managed to cling to tree branches until the SAPS Search and Rescue Team pulled them to safety.
Provincial police confirmed the details in a statement just before midnight yesterday (Sunday), correcting earlier reports that suggested three women were still unaccounted for. They said it was two, but families standing on the bridge and rescue teams told the Observer that they are searching for three women.
• Operations were suspended overnight due to dangerous conditions and resumed early this morning.
• A sluice was reopened again last night because of the rising dam level due to all the rain.
• Samuel Chego (from the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality) also went to the scene. He told the family members that the sirens at the Middelburg Dam rang six times yesterday to warn everybody that a sluice would be opened. He also said that people are not allowed to pray in or around the water when it rises.
@middelburgobserver Families of three missing women have gathered at the train bridge on the R104 (old Belfast road), where their loved ones were swept away by raging water yesterday after a sluice gate was opened. Police divers and K9 units are also on the scene, assisting with the search for the victims.
