Security company Rusa helps recover 22 more bodies after KZN floods

Security company Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) said it has helped to recover 22 bodies in the aftermath of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) floods.

Members of Rusa helped paramedics and law enforcement officers in recovering bodies.

Rusa received calls from the families of 25 people who were missing due to the floods. However, Rusa claims only 10 have since made contact with their families.

“They claimed that they had sought refuge from the downpour and due to infrastructure damage were unable to make contact with anyone,” Rusa said.

Thousands of people have been affected by the floods in the province, with many homes being damaged.

The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Sipho Hlomuka, has opened community halls for those left homeless by the floods.

Due to visibility being obscured and the heavy downpours, Rusa was unable to use their helicopter on Monday afternoon.

Though visibility has since improved and the pilot and two of the crew members have been airborne since Tuesday afternoon assisting in operations.

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Bodies recovered

Three family members – a 72-year-old woman, a 34-year-old mother and her teenage daughter – were among the bodies recovered by Rusa after a landslide caused a wall in their bedroom to collapse at their home in Amoutana.

Officers were also called out to Ndwedwe where they recovered a body of a woman. Three other people are presumed to have drowned in the area but their bodies couldn’t be retrieved as officers were unable to access the location due to roads being washed away.

In Tongaat, a woman and her three minor grandchildren drowned after their vehicle was swept off a bridge. The vehicle was recovered after the water subsided and the four occupants were found dead.

A family of four died after their home in Ogunjini; and their bodies were extricated by Ogunjini community members as they were buried under the rubble.

The death toll is reported have risen to 253 and is expected to rise as the floods subside.

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