The body of 21-year-old Zenande Chiloane has been recovered from the Crocodile River near Kamagugu outside Mbombela, bringing an end to a nine-day search operation.
Police said search teams had located the third victim who was believed to have been inside a white Haval SUV that plunged into the river on June 7.
Chiloane‘s body was discovered on June 16 about three kilometres downstream from the location where the vehicle and two other victims were recovered.
SAPS said they have worked tirelessly for the past nine days to find Chiloane, with the department of health also assisting by deploying a helicopter to support the search operation. Two private security companies also assisted with drone equipment to enhance search efforts.
“The members from SAPS search and rescue unit have been working tirelessly from the day when the incident was reported. The body was positively identified by the family as Zenande Chiloane,” said the police.
The recovery comes more than a week after the vehicle carrying Chiloane, Vigo Godfrey, 20, and Tintswalo Khoza, 20, reportedly lost control and plunged into the Crocodile River. Emergency teams responded immediately and launched a search and recovery operation.
On the day of the accident, rescuers recovered the bodies of Godfrey and Khoza as well as the vehicle. Chiloane remained missing, prompting an extensive search involving police divers, volunteers, helicopters and drones.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Capt Johan “Pottie” Potgieter of the Mpumalanga police diving unit described the difficult conditions faced by search teams.
“It was quite difficult. It took us nine days to find him. The river is running very strong. It’s very cold. Remember that the hippos are there, the crocodiles are there. But the terrain around the river was also a big problem for us because it was very dense. So everywhere that you went next to the river, you had to literally cut your way open with the machetes and with fungus,” said Potgieter.
He praised the volunteers and community members who assisted in the operation.
“We thank the volunteers and all the people that came to assist us. They made the task much easier for us. And that is why we also had the success we did today,” he said.
Potgieter said search teams encountered significant challenges despite deploying helicopters and drones.
“The problem we had with the helicopters and the drones,[is that] there are certain places where the river splits and it makes islands, so in between those islands, the helicopters and the drones couldn’t see because the vegetation has closed on top,” he said.
The discovery of Chiloane’s body now allows authorities to conclude the search phase of the operation with investigations continuing.
“The body has been retrieved, so it’s ongoing, they will continue with the investigation and postmortem will be conducted. So from here on forward, after the postmortem, I’m sure that the family will be able to make their funeral arrangements,” Potgieter said.
The memorial services for Godfrey and Khoza were held on June 13 while Chiloane’s family continued to wait for news of his whereabouts.
Potgieter expressed hope that the recovery would provide some comfort to Chiloane’s loved ones.
“Hopefully now this will bring closure for the family because I take it was a long nine days for them as well, that they didn’t know where the loved one was. So I’m very glad that we could conclude today and that we could bring closure for the family.”
TimesLIVE