Rescue workers retrieve woman’s body from cliff

It has been sorrow, tears and pain for the family of Nkosingiphile Elina Mtshali, who fell off a cliff on New Year’s Eve in the Kwabanakile area of Hlobane.
The 71-year-old went missing after visiting her relatives in the area. A search started on January 1 after a missing persons case was lodged at Hlobane police station.
The following day, a young boy who was herding goats found a pair of sandals and reported the find.
Community members went out in numbers and started searching the area where her shoes were seen. Her body was found soon thereafter; it took about four days to retrieve the body from the bottom of the cliff – a drop of about 90 metres. Community members gathered around, day in and day out, waiting for the body to be retrieved. Various organisations including AbaQulusi Disaster Management; officials from different police stations; AbaQulusi Fire & Rescue; members from K9SAR Vryheid, Newcastle and Umhlali; KwaZulu Private Ambulance, Durban SAPS Search & Rescue, Pretoria SAPS Air Wing, Netcare 911, volunteers from START Rescue, MLM Forensic and other members were on scene to complete the high angle body recovery of the victim. The body had been located in an inaccessible position 90 metres down the cliff. Specialised climbing equipment was used to access the body and manoeuvre it to an area where a police helicopter was able to hoist it up and fly it to the nearest clinic, where it was handed over to the Medico-Legal Laboratory and Hlobane SAPS.
A special thank you goes out to AbaQulusi Mayor Khehla Mkhwanazi, who provided overnight accommodation to personnel who travelled from different towns and cities to assist with the recovery of the body.
Family members were advised to hold the funeral on Tuesday due to the state of the remains. Police have opened an inquest docket to Mtshali’s death.

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The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.