Joburg EMS resume search for duo who drowned during cleansing ritual

Joburg Emergency Services said the 18-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man drowned at Klip River in Olifantsvlei on Saturday night.

Emergency services said the search will continue until the bodies are found. Photo: Joburg EMS

The City of Johannesburg Aquatic Rescue Unit, together with the South African Police Service (Saps). are expected to resume with their search to find two people who drowned during a cleansing ritual in the south of Joburg.

The 18-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man drowned at Klip River in Olifantsvlei on Saturday night.

Search

Joburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the search will continue until the bodies are found.

“Our residents out there are urged to continue to be cautious as an when conducting these cleansing or baptism rituals to ensure that all the congregants are safe when conducting these rituals so that we are able to prevent incidents likes this one.”

Last week, Joburg Emergency Services has recovered the body of an 18-year-old teen who went missing after falling into the Klipvalley River in Soweto.

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Mulaudzi said the teen slipped and fell into the overflowing river on Tuesday.

His body was recovered on Wednesday morning.

“The body will be handed over to the Saps for further investigations. We just want to plead with our residents to continue to look after young kids to stay away from river streams since now that the water levels are higher so that we can be able to prevent incidences like these.”

Sea search

This comes a few days after a 12-year-old child went missing after being swept out to sea by a rip current in Velddrif, Western Cape, on Wednesday.

According to the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the organisation’s Mykonos duty crew was activated by the SA Police Service (SAPS) in response to eyewitness reports of a drowning in progress in Veldrift, Laaiplek.

The SA Police Services, SAPS WPDS (Water Policing and Dive Services), NSRI Mykonos rescue swimmers, who were conducting routine training in the area at the time, the NSRI Mykonos, West Coast Medical and WC Government Health EMS responded.

The boy has still not been found.

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