The process of identifying the 14 people, including three children, who perished in a flooding incident near Ermelo in Mpumalanga, will begin today, police said.
A minibus taxi, along with a BMW, a Nissan bakkie and a Colt bakkie were washed 500 metres off Lothair Road into a dam just before 11pm on Monday.
Ermelo police Captain Carla Prinsloo said sudden heavy rainfall resulted in the force of the water sweeping away the entire road.
ER24 reported that 90mm of rain in a short time washed the road and vehicles away.
Prinsloo confirmed that 24 people had been involved in the incident, with eight taken to hospital and two escaping unharmed. Of the 14 bodies recovered, 11 were adults while three were children.
“Police divers recovered the body of a girl believed to be one or two- years-old,” said Prinsloo.
“The bodies of two boys believed to be between the ages of seven and 11 were also recovered.”
Prinsloo added that both passengers in the Nissan bakkie were found dead, while all the BMW passengers survived.
“We believe that all the people involved in the incident were accounted for,” she said.
Mpumalanga MEC for safety, security and liaison spokesman Joseph Mabuza confirmed that the Ermelo police station would be investigating the incident.
Additionally, the department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs in Mpumalanga warned residents of heavy rains expected over the next few days.
“The heavy rain could result in an increase of dam and river levels, thus making small streams and rivers very dangerous,” the department said in a statement.
In case of possible flooding, residents were advised to call Disaster Management on 0800-202-507.
The Johannesburg Emergency Management Services assured residents that a number of measures were in place to alert EMS of possible flooding in the city.
EMS spokesman Nana Radebe said Automatic Rainfall Systems, that alerts EMS of rising water levels, were in place in areas prone to flooding.
These areas include Orlando East in Soweto; Alexandra in the east of Johannesburg; and Pennyville on the outskirts of Soweto. New Canada Road in Pennyville was identified as being prone to flooding.
“We work closely with various stakeholders during flooding situations where a standard disaster plan is followed,” said Radebe.
“Disaster teams were specifically trained and equipped to deal with instances of flooding in Johannesburg.”
The Democratic Alliance’s shadow member of the mayoral committee for public safety, Mervyn Cirota said there had been problems with disaster management in Johannesburg in the past.
“A contingency plan does however exist to deal with disasters in the city,” he said.
“Hopefully disaster management has learned from past experiences on how to deal with future disasters.”
Wednesday 12 December 2012
http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/local-news?oid=366749&sn=Detail&pid=146857&14-die-in-Mpumalanga-floods-
0 comments:
Post a Comment