BREAKING: Angler speaks on South Pier death

DRAMA unfolded shortly after 8am this morning at the South Pier in Richards Bay when an angler fell from the dolosse and subsequently succumbed to injuries or drowning.

‘I was fishing about 500m away from the victim who was well known to all of us who fish here,’ said Dennis Goncalves.

‘My friend Jay shouted to me that the man appeared to have a big fish on his line.

‘He had cast into the surf side of the pier.

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‘We immediately ran to see if we could assist but when we got there we only found his rod and he was nowhere to be seen.

‘We looked down and still could not see him so I raced back to the club house and we called the SAPS who alerted the necessary rescue services.’

These included the NSRI, IPSS, City of uMhlathuze Fire and Rescue, TNPA fire department, SAPS Dive Point and SAPS Search and Rescue.

‘We had tried unsuccessfully to recover the body and even the professionals battled for quite some time to get him free,’ said Dennis.

‘We can only assume that he over-balanced and slipped while trying to get the fish off the line.’

According to IPSS’ Richard Schouten, the confined space and location of the body made for a technically challenging recovery operation.

Read the ZO Monday edition for a follow up.

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