Toddler drowns at Yzerfontein
A young child drowned at Yzerfontein north of Cape Town on the West Coast on Saturday afternoon, the National Sea Rescue Institute said.
NSRI Yzerfontein duty crew were activated at 4.45pm following reports of a four-year-old boy missing in the surf zone at Pearl Bay, Yzerfontein, believed to have been swept out to sea, NSRI Yzerfontein station commander Willem Lubbe said on Sunday.
“The sea rescue craft Spirit of Iffley and our rescue vehicle responded to the scene and the SA Police Service, Dynamic ambulance services, and the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter were dispatched.”
On arrival on the scene an extensive sea, air, and shore search revealed no sign of the child and a police dive unit joined the search and would continue with an ongoing search operation.
“It appears that the family, from Malmesbury, were on the beach for the day. During the rising tide the child is believed to have been playing in the water when rip currents swept the child out to sea,” Lubbe said.