WATCH | Body of woman found after car washed away in KZN floods

Floods

Cape Town – Rescuers discovered the body of a woman and her damaged car in the Umbilo River near Sarnia, west of Durban, on Friday morning.

The vehicle had been washed away during heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday, which caused widespread flooding across several areas.

The search was halted the previous night due to dangerous conditions, but resumed at dawn.

The car was found under a bridge on Gordon Road, and the woman, believed to be in her 50s, was found with fatal injuries.

“Rescuers and the fire department made their way to the vehicle, where unfortunately they found a single occupant, the woman believed to be in her 50s, who sustained fatal injuries,” Times Live quoted Garrith Jamieson of ALS Paramedics as saying.

“You can see from the damage to the vehicle, which was torn apart, that the river, which has subsided significantly now, was overflowing.”

The woman, a pharmacist from the Hillcrest area, is believed to have been on her way home when her car was swept away.

“We were on our way out, we were going to call it, we were on our way home when something in me said we needed to make one more loop. That brought us to Gordon Road, where we walked down to the river, where there was a washaway car, and as we turned to our right, there was the vehicle,” Volunteer paramedic at Mobi-Claw 911, Bianca White told eNCA.

“We called upon the eThekwini fire who were doing one last search, they came and went into the river and she was there.”

Severe flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, triggered by a level 6 weather warning, led to numerous incidents, including two cars reportedly washed away near Stapleton Road.

The South African Weather Services (SAWS) have issued a level 6 weather warning for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and parts of the coastline for Thursday and Friday. 

In Pietermaritzburg, several roads were severely impacted by flooding, causing traffic disruptions.

The heavy rains have already caused significant destruction in the region, including 11 fatalities earlier in March, and have also affected other provinces, including Johannesburg, where flooding was widespread.

Picture: X/@matinyarare

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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