SA police diver dies in Lesotho

2003-05-23 16:27

Bloemfontein - A Bloemfontein-based police diver taking part in the search for the victims of a helicopter crash in Lesotho's Katse Dam was certified dead on arrival at the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic on Friday afternoon, police said.

Inspector Michael Bradley, 35, was certified dead at 14:50 after being taken to the hospital by helicopter from Maseru where efforts to revive him had failed, Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht told Sapa.

Bradley, a qualified diver, was based at the Bloemfontein dog unit as a rescue dog handler.

George van der Merwe, spokesperson for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, said Bradley apparently stopped breathing at a depth of 30m.

A doctor at the Maseru Private Hospital, where the diver was flown from the dam, said he showed no signs of life upon arrival and did not respond to resuscitation efforts.

He was then flown to the Medi-Clinic in Bloemfontein.

Van der Merwe said police divers started searching the dam on Friday morning down to depths of 30m to 40m.

A team of four deep sea divers from Durban proceeded with combing the dark water with a camera at 60m, Van der Merwe said.

The divers are searching for a Lesotho Defence Force helicopter which crashed into the dam on Tuesday with five people on board.

The pilot, Lieutenant Lererileng Maloi, and passengers Sethunya Nthako, engineering manager of the Lesotho Highlands Development Agency, are still missing.

The three remaining passengers, a crew who was filming the dam for a German television station, escaped from the sinking helicopter and swam to safety.

- SAPA