IN a tragic end to a school outing, two teenagers from Pietermaritizburg drowned at Margate beach yesterday evening. A third pupil is still missing.
According to eye-witnesses, a group of school children got into difficulty in the surf just after 6pm. Bystanders went into the sea to try and help the group when they noticed they were being swept towards the rocks. Six children were pulled to safety.
According to the NSRI, two men, who were believed to be off-duty lifeguards from Durban, swam out to assist and they were able to pull two girls out of the water.
The NSRI team, police and paramedics continued with CPR on the girls, aged 15 and 16, but after all efforts to resuscitate them were exhausted, they were both declared dead on the scene.
A 17-year-old man was seen floating face down in the water but despite best efforts, the teenager has not been found and he remains missing at sea.
Lifeguards had completed their duty for the day and the beach was unmanned at the time of the incident.
The bodies of the school girls were taken into the care of the Forensic Pathology Services and a Police Search and Rescue team will continue with an ongoing search operation for the missing teen.
It was believed that a group of pupils accompanied by teachers and their principal, from a Pietermaritzurg school, were at the South Coast on a school outing.
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