WATCH | NSRI rescues teens from runaway boat on Nahoon River

NSRI East London duty crew were on Wednesday alerted to a runaway boat on the Nahoon River after two teenage boys were reported to have fallen off.

Andrew Neil of the NSRI said the boat was running unmanned, and turning in circles, two kilometres upriver of the Nahoon River Mouth.

“On arrival at the scene, we found that two members of the public had launched a riverboat and we were able to rescue the teenagers from the water. One teenager sustained lacerations from the motor propeller and one teenager was not injured”, he said.

The NSRI members near the scene, including an NSRI member who is also a provincial EMS rescue paramedic, and an EMS rescue squad responded to the alert.

The injured teenager was transported to a local hospital by family members.

“Two NSRI members launched a public members’ riverboat onto the water and using a rope they lassoed the 15 horsepower outboard motor and brought the casualty boat to a halt and it was brought safely to shore”, Keil said.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said BCM was not aware of the incident and nothing had been reported while the Metro lifeguards were on duty.

“The river where the incident occurred stretches about 5km inland from the beach so the incident could have happened outside where lifeguards would see. It is most likely one of the residents there”, he explained.

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