Rustenburg – Giving an update on Sunday, KwaZulu-Natal premier, Sihle Zikalala, said they received support from the Free State in the form of a roads engineer, director construction, rescuers and structural engineers.
The Free State department of health has sent five rescue technician practitioners with advanced life support, supported by two other highly specialised personnel who are also lecturers at the Free State College of Emergency Care to KwaZulu-Natal.
The Free State teams arrived in KwaZulu-Natal provincial disaster management centre on Sunday.
Search and Rescue multidisciplinary experts from different parts of the country have been integrated to pursue a common mission of finding the mortal remains of the missing persons.
They are navigating difficult terrains caused by the destruction of floods that swept the built infrastructure of eThekwini from the torrential rains of more than 400mm since April 11.
The death toll from the devastating floods has risen to 448, after five bodies were recovered.
A police diver and her dog died while on a rescue mission in KwaZulu-Natal.
Police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said Sergeant Busisiwe Mjwara, 42, was conducting a search in the Msunduzi River for three people who had drowned earlier in the week, when she got into difficulty and drowned. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
She was attached to the Pietermaritzburg Search and Rescue (SAR) police diving unit. She said during the same operation, K9 (police dog) Leah from the Durban Central Search and Rescue unit also drowned.
“According to reports, Leah was attempting to assist Sergeant Mjwara when she also experienced difficulties.”
Mathe said another police woman, Constable Thandazile Sithole, 31, attached to the Durban Central Police Station, died when her home collapsed on her earlier this week.
“At least 30 police officers have been affected by the floods with some injured and the majority displaced after their homes were washed away,” she said.
IOL