Sheppie rescue team assists in dam search for children

LOCAL rescue workers helped search for the bodies of the five school pupils who died in the sludge dam on Elsmore Farm between Greytown and Mooi River earlier this week.

The rescue efforts were led by Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone Search and Rescue teams and the Rietvlei SAPS. Police divers had the grim task of trying to locate the children’s bodies which were immersed in the thick mud.

The children died after the driver of the bakkie in which they were travelling lost control and the vehicle plunged into the dam. Altogether, it is believed 30 children were crammed in the back of the bakkie.