Monday, 10 January
09 Jan
A police captain who was part of SAPS search and rescue team, died while rescuing people swept away during the floods in the Eastern Cape.
According to preliminary reports, Captain Pierre Marx, 53, and his colleagues from East London K9 Search and Rescue attended to reports of people swept off the Horse Shoe Valley causeway in the Nahoon River on Saturday.
When they arrived at the scene, they found one person trapped on an island in the river’s mainstream with three dead people.
“The officers managed to take the three bodies across the stream. After a successful rescue of the complainant, who is believed to be a local farmer, Captain Marx struggled with a strong current sweeping him, despite attempts by his colleagues to rescue him,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana.
Marx disappeared into the heavy stream, and his colleagues recovered his body on Sunday morning.
READ | Hundreds of families left destitute following heavy storms in Pietermaritzburg
“The untimely passing of Captain Marx has sent shockwaves within the SAPS family and the community at large who have voiced out their distress at the devastating news of his drowning. Captain Pierre Marx is a well-known member of the SAPS who made himself a name within and outside the SAPS for his outstanding heroic rescue activities within the province.
“He was very popular among various communities who witnessed his sense of commitment and empathetic disposition towards the plight of the people,” Kinana said.
In 2012, Marx received an award for bravery after he saved a young boy from drowning in a stormwater drain in East London.
On Sunday, provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene, visited the scene.
READ | Mop up operations begin after Mdantsane in Eastern Cape flooding – one dead
“This is a sad day not only for the SAPS family, but for the entire community. Captain Pierre Marx was an asset and hope for all of us. We have lost a dedicated and dependable hero, a passionate and loyal member of the South African Police Service who kept the SAPS flag flying high on various occasions.
“He promoted the image of the organisation in a manner that made all of us proud to be associated with the SAPS. On behalf of the management in the province, I wish to send my deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues,” said Mene.
Meanwhile, a preliminary report presented to the Eastern Cape premier and Buffalo City mayor said that five people, including Marx, had died during the floods.
On Sunday, mop-up operations began in Mdantsane, East London.
09 Jan
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