Tebogo Msimanga |
Rescue technicians from the City of Tshwane worked with the SAPS Diving Unit to recover the body from the river. A description of the recovered body was shared with the firefighters who were still at the scene with the other two men near the Pretoria Zoo.
On Saturday, 4 February 2023, the City of Tshwane Emergency Service Department received a call at approximately 16:50 which reported that three men had been swept away by the Apies River near the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Pretoria Zoo) after the rain and storms that were experienced the day before. Personnel from Bosman Fire Station and Innesdale Fire Station were dispatched to the incident.
Tshwane Emergency Services Spokesperson Charles Mabaso said the men confirmed that the recovered body was that of their friend who had been swept away.
“We would like to advise people to avoid bridges over rivers and the rivers themselves when it is raining. It may be raining upstream, which causes the water levels to swell without any warning”.
Mabaso added that the circumstances leading to the drowning of the man are the subject of an investigation by the SAPS.
