– Pretoria After members of the Masowe church were swept away by flash floods in the Jukskei River in Johannesburg, a sizable amount of resources from the public and private sectors were mobilized for the rescue of survivors and the recovery of dead.
On Saturday, when the floods hit, the “white clothes” church members allegedly had a baptism ritual in the river.
By Monday morning, there had been 14 fatalities, and rescue dogs were being used to guide emergency workers as they searched the region.
Craig Lambinon, a spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), stated that after 4 p.m. on Saturday, Netcare 911 ambulance services informed their partners in Gauteng of the incident.
According to Lambinon, NSRI Gauteng, City of Johannesburg EMS, Gauteng Government Health EMS, Johannesburg Fire and Rescue Services from Sandton Fire Station, CPF Security, SAPS, police divers, and the police K9 Search and Rescue (unit) all responded to a muster at Arkwright Avenue where a search for what was thought to be 18 missing people washed away by the swift-moving Jukskei River began.
Fire and rescue personnel discovered a woman during the initial search, he claimed, then NSRI rescue swimmers and police divers discovered a second woman’s body on a sandbank in the Jukskei River, near the Grayston Drive Bridge on Katherine Street.
Fire and rescue service personnel located the adult female nearby Arkwright Avenue, and they took her to the hospital by ambulance in a stable condition despite having hypothermia, according to Lambinon.
Emergency services found and recovered a female teen’s body, and they informed NSRI of this. The body was then given to the care of Government Health Forensic Pathology Services.
In addition, a Fidelity security helicopter equipped with thermal imaging sensors joined the search.
He claimed that during the night, the congregation was trying to figure out which of their members was still absent.
Lambinon stated that as of Sunday morning, NSRI Vaal Dam and NSRI Hartbeespoort Dam had joined NSRI Gauteng, Johannesburg Fire and Rescue Services, Gauteng Government Health EMS, City of Johannesburg EMS, SAPS, police divers, the police K9 Search and Rescue, Sarsa (Search and Rescue South Africa), and CPF Security in the ongoing search.
A male child and a female toddler were found close to the intersection of Grayston Drive and Katherine Street. A female child and two adult females were found close to Morningside Manor. An adult female was found close to Froom Street in Atholl. An adult male was found close to South Road in Rivonia. An adult female was found close to Morningside Manor. Tragically, 12 bodies were discovered on Sunday in difficult conditions.
With the remains discovered on Sunday, the death toll reached 14. The rescue victim who was taken to the hospital is anticipated to recover fully.
“It hasn’t been ruled out that one or more cases aren’t connected to church baptisms and may stem from isolated incidents that weren’t recorded. Investigations are still ongoing, a woman adult told Lambinon.