- A 76-year-old man from Ga-Mamatsha village drowned while net fishing at Molepo Dam on Monday
- An 18-year-old from Lwamondo drowned in the Dzindi River on Sunday while swimming with a friend
- SAPS Water Wing search-and-rescue teams retrieved both bodies, with inquests opened at two police stations
Source: Getty Images
LIMPOPO — Two fatal drowning incidents over the weekend prompted search-and-rescue responses across separate waterways in Limpopo.
According to the South African Police Service, the initial report involved a 76-year-old resident of Ga-Mamatsha village who went missing on Monday at Molepo Dam during a net-fishing trip with a companion. Limpopo provincial police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba stated that emergency responders and law enforcement were dispatched immediately after being notified.
Recovery operations at Molepo Dam
Divers from the South African Police Service (SAPS) Water Wing, assisted by Emergency Medical Services personnel, located and extracted the senior citizen's body from the reservoir. Authorities are withholding his identity while preliminary investigations continue. Officers attached to Mankweng police station have formally registered an inquest docket to clarify the events leading up to the fatality.
A day earlier, on Sunday afternoon, a separate tragedy occurred along the Dzindi River near Lwamondo's Tshishuahuru village. An 18-year-old youth slipped beneath the surface while swimming with a friend and failed to re-emerge.
Colonel Ledwaba noted that patrolling officers were alerted to the emergency and rushed to the location, meeting the surviving friend who detailed the event. Specialist search crews subsequently recovered the teenager's body, and paramedics pronounced him deceased at the bank.
Read SAPS's statement on Facebook here:
Formal investigation underway in Thohoyandou
Family members have since formally identified the young victim. Officers at Thohoyandou police station are handling the second inquest docket into the drowning, with inquiries ongoing for both matters. A nine-year-old boy also drowned in Kleinmond Lagoon in the Western Cape earlier this week. Multiple attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Benoni woman saves teenager from drowning
In a related article, Briefly News reported on a Benoni woman who rescued a 14-year-old boy from a rip current at Cape Vidal beach, while his 16-year-old friend remained missing.
The survivor was taken to hospital in stable condition as search teams continued looking for his friend. The rescue unfolded after the woman entered the turbulent water before emergency crews arrived.
Source: Briefly News
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