Bay of Plenty
Huge wave kills at least three people in South Africa
A huge wave killed at least three people on a popular beach in South Africa, the Bay of Plenty
© Xinhua / Imago Images
An unusually high wave killed three people in the Bay of Plenty in South Africa. Rescue services on site fear that the number of victims could increase.
An unusually high wave killed at least three people on a South African beach. 17 other people were hospitalized with serious injuries on Saturday, according to a spokesman for the emergency services in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Among the dead was a child aged seven or eight.
South Africa: The number of victims could still rise
The accident happened on Saturday afternoon at the Bay of Plenty, a popular beach in the metropolis of Durban. The people hit by the extreme wave were pulled away from the beach and out into the sea. A spokeswoman for the South African government said 35 lifeguards and a medical team were involved in the rescue operation.
More than 100 people were affected by the sudden wave. The rescue services expressed the fear that the number of victims could increase. “Despite the best efforts of the emergency team, three people lost their lives,” the local portal quotes “Independent OnlineeThekwini community spokesman Msawakhe Mayisela.
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Durban has only gradually begun to reopen its beaches in recent weeks after they were closed due to an increased incidence of the disease-causing E. coli bacterium. The bacteria came from the city’s sewers, which had been damaged by floods in April. More than 400 people died in these floods.
Sources: “Independent Online“