Diver rescued after 7 hours at sea
2013-02-27 11:40
Ayanda Mdluli, The Witness
Durban - A diver who went missing on Tuesday morning was
found after drifting for more than seven hours in the rough seas off the KwaZulu-Natal
South Coast.
Jean-Pierre Els, 30, of Uvongo, went missing at around 08:00
at Shelly Beach.
The dive master for a diving company was 12km offshore of
Shelly Beach at Protea Banks when he got swept away while conducting a group
charter dive.
National Sea Rescue Institute Shelly Beach station commander
Mark Harlen said Els was located by the Transnet National Ports Authority
rescue helicopter at around 15:20 off the shore of Port Edward, which was about
45km from where he originally went missing.
Harlen said Els got separated from the dive charter group
while diving. When he surfaced from the dive he had no sight of the dive
charter boat.
“He drifted for over seven hours in the two- to three-metre
rough sea swell and a 30 knot wind until he was found. An NSRI rescue swimmer
was deployed into the water from the rescue helicopter to secure the diver, who
was then airlifted to our Shelly Beach rescue base,” he said.
Harlen explained that although Els was exhausted, dehydrated
and had experienced some sunburn, he did not need to be hospitalised.
