|
Off-Road Rescue Unit -
Emergency Incidents Report - 2007
|
|
No.
|
Incident / Location
|
Date
|
What
Happened
|
| 31/2007 |
Vehicle Recovery
Roodepoort, Gauteng |
28 Dec |
 Two
drivers had become stuck in mud in two 4x4s in Roodepoort and ORRU was asked to assist. A small team went out and both
vehicles were recovered without difficulty. Read more about this call-out
here. |
| 30/2007 |
Missing light aircraft
Eastern Cape |
25 Dec |
On Christmas Day, the Off Road Rescue Unit received a call from the Aeronautical
Rescue Co-ordination Centre asking the unit to go on standby as a Cessna 220 piloted by its owner had gone
missing. Read more about this call-out
here. |
| 29/2007 |
Vehicle recovery
Krugersdorp, Gauteng |
21 Dec |
 A
driver had stalled his Land Rover on a steep hill, and it had then run away backwards, rolling over and coming to rest against
a tree. The Rescue Unit recovered the vehicle from the hillside as an exercise. Get
more about this call-out here - including video footage. |
| 28/2007 |
Klip River Flood
Johannesburg |
08 Dec |
At 17h41 on 8 December, a Code Yellow was issued advising the Off Road Rescue Unit
that the South African Police Service required assistance in the Lenasia area, where the Klip River and Klipspruit had burst
their banks after heavy rainfall. Read more about this call-out here. |
| 27/2007 |
Suspected suicide
Kagiso, Gauteng |
24 Nov |
At 15h51 on 24 November, 2007, a Code Yellow was issued advising the Off Road
Rescue Unit that the South African Police Service required assistance to search for a suspected suicide victim in the Kagiso,
Krugersdorp region. Read more about this call-out here. |
| 26/2007 |
Missing glider
Bloemfontein |
22 Nov |
At 22h06 ORRU received a call from the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at
OR Tambo International Airport advising the unit that a powered glider had gone missing in the Bloemfontein area. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 25/2007 |
100 people trapped in vehicles
Soweto |
22 Nov |
 The Off Road Rescue Unit assisted other emergency services in the successful rescue
of over 100 passengers who were trapped by rising water inside two taxis and two buses near Soweto, Johannesburg. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 24/2007 |
Missing child
Eldorado Park, Gauteng |
02 Nov |
A young child went missing in Eldorado Park and the SAPS asked for assistance from
ORRU. The child was later found unharmed in Hillbrow, 25km away on the other side of Johannesburg. |
| 23/2007 |
Flood victims
Leondale, Gauteng |
20 Oct |
After heavy thunderstorms east of Johannesburg, a child and an adult had gone
missing, believed by the police to have been swept away by the flooding. The Rescue Unit was called out by the police to
assist to look for the victims. Members responded and arrived on scene, but were stood down by police on arrival as the search
would have to be conducted by boat owing to the swampy terrain. |
| 22/2007 |
Child abducted
Eldorado Park, Gauteng |
10 Oct |
A three-year-old was believed to have been abducted in Eldorado Park. Police called
on the Rescue Unit to assist and members were called out. |
| 21/2007 |
Possible flooding
Johannesburg, Gauteng |
08 Oct |
The Rescue Unit went onto standby as a result of sustained very heavy thunderstorms
over Johannesburg and the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas. |
| 20/2007 |
Child washed away
Hammanskraal |
07 Oct |
ORRU received a call from the South African Police Service's Search and Rescue unit
which had been called out to a scene in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria, where a child had been washed away in the Apies River
that had burst its banks due to the torrential rain that day. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 19/2007 |
Possible flooding
Johannesburg, Gauteng |
27 Jul |
The Rescue Unit went onto standby as a result of sustained very heavy thunderstorms
over Johannesburg and the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas. |
| 18/2007 |
Missing despondent
Hartbeespoort |
25 Jul |
A despondent young man had gone missing in the Hartbeespoort area and police called
on the Rescue Unit for assistance. A Code Yellow was sent out and members began responding but then the police called to say
that the person had been found and was OK. |
| 17/2007 |
Abducted child
Germiston |
14 Jul |
A 3-year-old child had been abducted from the Ulana squatter camp in Germiston. The
police asked ORRU to assist with searching the many mine dumps and slimes dams in the area. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 16/2007 |
Missing woman
Meyerton |
13 Jul |
A woman had reportedly had an argument with her husband, taken pills and run away
from her house and was still missing at midnight. The police called ORRU to assist. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 15/2007 |
Very cold weather
Johannesburg |
27 Jun |
The Rescue Unit went onto standby as more cold weather moved in over Johannesburg,
resulting in snow, hail and rain. No call-outs were received. |
| 14/2007 |
Very cold weather
Johannesburg |
06 Jun |
The Unit went onto standby as a severe cold weather system moved in over
the country. Temperatures plummeted and there was widespread snow, hail and rain, but no call-outs. |
| 13/2007 |
Missing lady
Erasmia, Pretoria |
08 May |
A lady was reported missing near Erasmia, Pretoria and the police asked
ORRU to assist to look for her. A team was scrambled but before arrival was informed by the police that her body had
been found. |
| 12/2007 |
Easter long weekend |
14 Apr |
The Unit went onto standby ahead of the Easter long weekend. Many people
use the long break to get away into wilderness areas to try out new vehicles or kit, and often find themselves in
difficulty. Fortunately there were no call-outs. |
| 11/2007 |
'Crashed' plane
Sterkfontein, Gauteng |
10 Apr |
People in the Sterkfontein area, which is on the approach to Lanseria
Airport, reported to the police that they had heard a plane crash at night in the area. The police asked us to
assist to search and we awaited further developments from the Air Rescue Coordination Centre. The ARCC reported that
they had no planes unaccounted for and no plane was ever reported missing or found. |
| 10/2007 |
Missing 20-y-o woman
Brakpan |
22 Mar |
As the team was standing down at 21h24 from the previous search in the Benoni area,
a second call came in to the South African Police Service for a missing person in the Brakpan area. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 09/2007 |
Missing 58-y-o man
Springs, Gauteng |
22 Mar |
A 58-year-old man had left for work in the morning but never arrived at
work and never returned to his home in the Springs area. Police asked the Unit to assist with an urban search for his
vehicle. Read
more about this call-out here. |
| 08/2007 |
Tornado hurts 150
Klerksdorp, Northwest. |
04 Mar |
A tornado hit parts of Klerksdorp causing 150 casualties and Disaster
Management asked the Unit to respond with as many paramedics as possible. An 8-car team was assembled for the 180km
trip but minutes prior to the departure of the rapid response advance team, authorities advised that local EMS and
mine teams had the situation under control. |
| 07/2007 |
Missing 7-y-o girl
Pretoria |
02 Mar |
A seven-year-old girl had been missing in Pretoria Gardens for a week.
The Unit was called out to assist police to go over a range of hills west of Pretoria that had already been
searched. Members spent the whole day searching without success. Her abductor later led police to where he had
thrown her body down a storm water drain in the area. He was remanded in custody pending a court case. |
| 06/2007 |
Cyclone Favio
Mozambique |
21 Feb |
The Unit went onto standby because a powerful category 5 tropical storm, Cyclone
Favio, was heading for an already-flooded Mozambique. Later, Gauteng Disaster Management asked us to make up a five-man
team to go into Mozambique and assist with helicopter navigation in the flooded areas and long-range radio
communications back to South Africa. By the time Mozambique officially requested help from South Africa nearly a
week later, the storm had wreaked its havoc and was long gone. |
| 05/2007 |
Missing teenage boy
Faerie Glen, Pretoria |
12 Feb |
A teenage boy had gone missing in a park in Faerie Glen in Pretoria. The
police asked the unit to respond and a search time was dispatched. While waiting at the rendezvous point for the
team to assemble, the police reported that they had located the boy who was depressed but otherwise OK. |
| 04/2007 |
Injured tourists
Naboomspruit, Mpumalanga |
09 Feb |
A group of ten Dutch tourists were on a night game drive in the
Naboomspruit area when their vehicle left the road and plunged down a ravine with reported multiple injuries to many
passengers. ORRU was contacted at 23h00 and asked to respond. A seven-car team was called out with a departure time
of 01h00 from Johannesburg. The team was later stood down when local emergency services arrived on the scene and
were able to cope with the situation. |
| 03/2007 |
Missing woman
Mondeor, Johannesburg |
08 Feb |
A woman had gone missing in the Mondeor hills and was suspected of being
suicidal. ORRU was called out to assist to search for her. |
| 02/2007 |
Child missing in river
Klipspruit, Johannesburg |
19 Jan |
A child had gone missing on the banks of the Klipspruit River and was
presumed to have fallen in and drowned. The SAPS requested ORRU to assist with searching the river and river banks.
The police found the body before the search teams arrived on site. |
| 01/2007 |
Campaign to arrest illegal immigrants
Norwood, Johannesburg |
19 Jan |
The South African Police Service requested the assistance of the Off-Road
Rescue Unit in a day-long mission to rid the Norwood area of illegal immigrants. ORRU provided transport and
communications from their Mobile Command Post stationed in Grant Avenue. |
