Emergency Services recover the body of a man who was swept away by the Apies River. Picture: Supplied
Pretoria - The City of Tshwane Emergency Service Department has assisted in recovering the body of a man who had been swept away by the Apies River on Saturday.
Department spokesperson and deputy chief Charles Mabaso said they received a call at about 4.50pm on Saturday reporting that three men had been swept away by the Apies River near the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Pretoria Zoo) after the rain and storms the day before.
Personnel from Bosman Fire Station and Innesdale Fire Station were dispatched to the incident.
Upon arrival, two men reported that they had been swept away by the river the previous day and had managed to escape, while the third man could not.
While searching for the third man, the SAPS Diving Unit assisted with recovering the body of a man that was spotted floating in the Apies River under a bridge on the K8 (Rosslyn Road). The personnel from Innesdale Fire Station were then diverted to the K8 bridge.
Rescue technicians from the City of Tshwane worked with the SAPS Diving Unit to recover the body from the river.
A description of the recovered body was shared by the firefighters who were still at the scene with the other two men near the Pretoria Zoo.
The men confirmed that the recovered body was that of their friend who had been swept away the previous day.
“We would like to advise people to avoid bridges over rivers and the rivers themselves when it is raining. It may be raining upstream, which causes the water levels to swell without any warning,” Mabaso said.
“The storm water systems may carry a lot of water into the river, which may cause the water levels to rise rapidly and without warning.”
He added that the circumstances leading to the drowning of the man were the subject of an investigation by the SAPS.
Pretoria News