Johannesburg - Around 30 specialist volunteers of Rescue
SA will head to Malawi on Wednesday to help with search and rescue operations
in the flood-hit country, the non-governmental organisation said.
"We will be there for two weeks," chief
executive Ian Scher said.
The volunteers were all professional emergency services
workers, rather than volunteers from the general public.
The team was trained in swift water rescue, a very
specialised field involving rescue in fast flowing water.
Scher said: "When we are not doing this [rescue
operations] we teach fire-fighters, police, military how to do search and
rescue".
Associated Press reported on Sunday that at least 176
people had been killed in the Malawi floods.
Humanitarian group the Gift of the Givers has been
delivering relief parcels in the country, which include food, blankets, eating
utensils and water purification tablets.
Founder Imtiaz Sooliman said on Sunday that, according to
the meteorological department, the rain could last another two weeks.
Thirty-two thousand hectares of land were flooded, with
116 000 farmers affected.
"We have water rescue teams with our own equipment
and boats on standby, ready to fly them in at short notice if Malawi Disaster
Management confirms a need. Medical teams are also on standby."
There were also concerns of a cholera outbreak and other
water-borne diseases as there was no clean drinking water, and the sewerage was
contaminated.
