Four men rescued after ski-boat became trapped

Staff Reporter

Four men were rescued on Monday night after their ski-boat became trapped on the edge of the Grootdraai Dam spillway near Standerton in Mpumalanga.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said its Witbank and Gauteng duty crews were activated at 7.05pm on Monday after police divers requested urgent assistance.

Emergency teams already on scene — including the Department of Water and Sanitation, South African Police Service divers, Delta 1 Search and Rescue, police K9 search and rescue, Mpumalanga fire and rescue services and provincial emergency medical services — were unable to reach the men, the NSRI said.

The men were in the water and clinging to their boat in heavy flowing water at the dam wall spillway.

“It appears that the four men may have experienced motor mechanical failure to their ski-boat and they had drifted to the edge of the dam wall, at the spillway, that threatened