DIVERS from the SAPS Search and Rescue have recovered the body of a 27-year-old man who was swept away by a rip tide on Virginia Beach on Tuesday morning.

The Virginia resident was at the beach with his friends when the tragedy occurred.

According to Crisis Medical’s Kyle van Reenen, emergency personnel combed the area for the man’s body for more than two hours.

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“He was found about one kilometre north of the Virginia pier and was spotted by a SAPS helicopter. A police diver was lowered into the water and the body was brought to shore,” he said.

Durban North SAPS spokesman, Capt Raymond Deokaran, confirmed an inquest docket had been opened following the drowning.

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