Gauteng floods: Woman rescued from Jukskei River after heavy downpours

A 40-year-old woman has been rescued after being trapped in the Jukskei River following heavy downpours and floods in Gauteng.

A multi-disciplinary operation including the city of Johannesburg and Gauteng Emergency Services, and the South African Police Services (Saps) water wing rescued the woman on Sunday.

Gauteng floods, 3 April

Woman trapped in Jukskei River

Johannesburg Emergency Services Robert Mulaudzi said the woman suffered no major injuries.

“We just want to urge all our residents throughout the city of Johannesburg to be cautious and try and avoid crossing river streams and manmade bridges during this wet weather to conditions to prevent drowning incidents.”

“From our side as a city emergency management service, we remain on high alert, monitoring all seven regions of the city”, said Mulaudzi.

He said the focus will be on the city’s low-lying areas, “our most vulnerable communities – which is our informal settlements – to make sure that we respond to emergencies over the weekend”.

Passengers injured in accident

Meanwhile, a 78-year-old woman was seriously injured, and a year-old baby and his mother suffered minor injuries in a collision between a light motor vehicle and a bakkie on the R59 in Vereeniging.

Paramedics said they found the car still on the road on arrival at the scene.

ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell said the woman was treated with advanced life support interventions in the vehicle while the other occupants had all managed to self-extricate themselves.

“The young girl was luckily uninjured in the collision. The mother and baby boy were treated for minor injuries and transported to Mediclinic Vereeniging by another private service on the scene”.

“The seriously injured 78-year-old patient was treated and transported by ER24 to the same hospital for further care”, Campbell said.

The occupants of the bakkie were uninjured in the collision.

Campbell said the exact cause of the accident is unknown, but authorities were on the scene for further investigations.

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