High tide traps beach-goers at Ballito

Five people were trapped by high tides at the Hole in the Wall at Thompson’s Bay in Ballito this afternoon.

On Thursday, October 6, monster waves caught five holiday makers unawares at the same spot, washing one of them out to sea during the dramatic rescue.

Specialised Rescue Unit’s (SRC) Quentin Power said they received a call from a passerby as well as the Netcare control centre alerting them to the people’s plight.

They were joined by IPSS Medical Rescue and together they brought the beach-goers to safety.

“The group was trapped in the first bay south of the Hole in the Wall and could not get across the narrow walk way against the rock face.”

“There were five adults and one teenager who were sitting on the rocks,” said Power.

The five people were from Tongaat.

Jadene Govender told the Courier that they waved for help and many people on the beach saw them but turned away, probably not realising the full extent of their plight.

“We were trapped for about 25 minutes but it felt like a life time.”

“We were on the other side of the beach and when we saw that the tides were rising, we decided to leave.”

“We then realised that we could not get to the walkway and we started waving for help,” said Govender.

IPSS Medical Rescue’s Paul Herbst said the five people were not injured.

SRC’s Quintin Power said the rescue was not intense and took about 10 to 15 minutes.

“Rescue members were able to walk over to the group as there were periods of breaks in between wave sets.”

“Each person was escorted through the walkway back to safety,” said Power.

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