Still no trace of Centurion hiker

A 25-year-old Centurion mountain climber’s mysterious disappearance has left rescue workers baffled, Centurion Rekord reports.

Mark Grobler – an enthusiastic and experienced hiker – left his Centurion family home on the day after Christmas for a four-day solo hike in the Drakensberg mountains.

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Grobler arrived at his destination where he filled in a form detailing his plans for the hike. When he however failed to return from his hike on 29 December as he was supposed to, a search-and-rescue operation was launched. His car was discovered in the car park, but there was no sign of Grobler himself.

It has now been more than 10 days since he was reported missing and the rescue operation, involving a helicopter and sniffer dogs, still hasn’t unearthed any traces or clues as to what happened to Grobler.

“Grobler is an experienced, well-equipped hiker and had done the route before,” said Mountain Club of South Africa KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Steve Cooke.

“Search efforts are a multi-agency operation including members of Ezemvelo, the police and mountain club of South Africa KZN section (MCSA).”

The search has been co-ordinated by senior members of the MCSA rescue team.

On New Year’s Day a helicopter from the SAPS air wing crashed while deploying searchers into the field.

Luckily, the occupants – including one of the K9 search dogs – sustained only minor injuries.

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