Father and 8-year-old son swept away by river near Nkandla

KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Sipho Hlomuka said the 8-year-old child and elderly man, believed to be the father, were swept away by the uThukela River near Kranskop on Friday. The incident happened near a bridge that crosses into Nkandla.

“Disaster management teams have been deployed to the area to locate the victims. Raging currents of the river are making it difficult for the deployed search and rescue teams to commence with their efforts,” Hlomuka said.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear and the search will resume on Monday.

Hlomuka has urged members of the community to allow the deployed rescue teams to handle the situation as water levels are dangerous and pose a danger to those “untrained to traverse the treacherous waters”.

In the northern parts of the province, heavy rains were continuing in the uMkhanyakude, King Cetshwayo and Zululand districts. No major incidents have been reported in these districts so far but a number of roads have been flooded as a result of the excessive rains.

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