Cape Town — Authorities are still searching for a man who was swept away in the Hennops River in Centurion after devastating floods hit Tshwane this past weekend.
Authorities were searching for the man yesterday but had to abandon the search due to persistent rain. It is suspected that the man jumped into the river near the SuperSport Park stadium after being chased by a security guard, SABC News reported.
Tshwane Emergency Services (EMS) spokesperson, Lindsay Mnguni, says the operation might take long due to the length of the river and bad weather.
According to The Citizen, two people lost their lives in the floods as videos showed the floods hitting parts of Gauteng, including Tembisa and Tshwane. Firefighters found a car and a motorcycle that was taken away by the strong currents of the river.
“Sadly, the motorcyclist and the driver of the car were both found deceased and were recovered from the river by the rescuers. The crews also located and rescued another patient, at about 23:08, who was holding on to a lamp pole that was engulfed by the overflowing waters from the river, near the Centurion Lake Hotel. This patient was also not injured,” he said.
In addition to the search for the missing man, Mnguni said EMS rescued several people from incidents that occurred in different locations over the past weekend.
Mnguni said firefighters responded to an incident at 21:45 and found a car in the water with two occupants stuck inside. The two were successfully rescued and were unharmed with no injuries.
Another incident occurred at 22:10 when firefighters had to divert some resources away from Albert Street and Nellmapius Drive.
“On arrival, the firefighters found that a car with two occupants was also stuck in the river. They immediately rescued the patients, who were also unharmed,” he added.
“The firefighters and rescuers from our fire and rescue operations division, together with the divers from the South African Police Service, and the Gauteng Emergency Medical Services, conducted a search and rescue operation where they found a female patient who had swum to safety on the riverbank,” he said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
