An angler is missing, after apparently being swept off rocks by high waves in a remote fishing spot near Wilderness on the Southern Cape coast, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Sunday.
NSRI Wilderness, George fire and rescue services, Western Cape government health EMS, and police responded at about 6.20pm on Saturday to a remote location east of the Gwaing River mouth, following reports of an angler in the water.
The angler was last seen drifting in a westerly direction, NSRI Wilderness duty controller Mike Vonk said.
“Fellow anglers suspect that the local 49-year-old man fishing on rocks on the shoreline was washed off the rocks by waves in the spring high tide, but no one actually saw the man being swept off the rocks, but he was seen in the water and drifting,” Vonk said.
Upon arrival, access to the remote area was hampered by darkness, steep inclines, and a remote, barely accessible location. A search revealed no sign of the missing man.
A search resumed from first light on Sunday, including shore patrols, and the NSRI sea rescue craft Spirit of Rotary engaged in a sea search.
A police dive unit is continuing in an ongoing search and recovery operation for the missing man, Vonk said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
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