A 25-YEAR-OLD Zimbabwean man is feared dead after he fell off a cliff into the Indian Ocean near Gordon’s Bay in Western Cape, South Africa.
The incident happened on Sunday evening at around 6PM and he is yet to be located.
The name of the missing man cannot be revealed as his next of kin have not yet been informed.
According to South Africa media reports, the incident was reported by eye witnesses who were out surfing.
Search and rescue teams were launched on Sunday evening but there was no report of the man having been located by last night.
Speaking to journalists in South Africa, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said they sent rescue teams as soon as they received a report of the incident.
“NSRI Gordons Bay duty crew were activated soon after 6PM on Sunday afternoon by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) following eyewitness reports of a man falling off rocks into the surf near to Dappat Se Gat, between Gordon’s Bay and Kleinmond,” NSRI Gordons Bay station commander Alan Meiklejohn was reported as saying by South Africa’s News24.
A search helicopter failed to locate him on the sea after a report was made and the search was abandoned until yesterday morning when teams went out again.
“The sea rescue craft Spirit of Surfski was launched and the NSRI rescue vehicle and the South African Police Service, Western Cape government health emergency medical services (EMS) rescue squad, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services Dive Unit and city lifeguards from Koegelbaai, and various ambulance services also responded, as did the EMS/AMS skymed rescue helicopter,” News24 quoted a paramedic as saying.