NSRI warns public to be safe around water as temperatures soar

With high temperatures forecast for many parts of the country, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has appealed to South Africans to be safe in and around water.

This comes in the wake of drowning incidents and narrow escapes along the coast over the weekend.

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said there were at least nine non-fatal drowning incidents and hundreds of successful rescues by lifeguards at beaches along the coast.

“NSRI lifeguards and all water rescue networks are appealing to the public to exercise caution in and around water.

“We asking the public to only swim at beaches protected by lifeguards, and for parents to ensure a responsible adult is dedicated to watching children while they are in and around water.

“Warm weather is forecast by the SA Weather Service to persist in parts of SA and we are appealing to the public to be safe.”

Two bathers were rescued by members of the public after getting into difficulty while swimming at Umdloti beach on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast on Sunday night.

The community emergency response team (Cert) received a call for assistance at 7.30pm.

“Cert volunteers together with emergency services were dispatched and on arrival found two people had got into difficulty while swimming and were rescued by members of the public.

“It was reported a third person had not been accounted for. This report could not be confirmed.

“A shore search was conducted together with a water search by NSRI Ballito station 41 with no success.

“A decision was taken by all parties involved to call off the search as conditions became unsafe for rescuers to continue.”

TimesLIVE