In a carefully coordinated multi-disciplinary effort, dedicated teams of professionals and volunteers from Wilderness Search And Rescue (WSAR) made their way up the Platteklip Gorge hiking trail to assist 75 tourists who had decided to walk down the popular trail, after a fire near the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway lower cable station halted operations shortly after 13:00 on Thursday.
Exhausted and injured tourists
A high-tech drone from the Western Cape Government Health and Wellness EMS Drone Unit was deployed to remotely monitor the pedestrian traffic on the route and alert rescue teams, including SANParks – Table Mountain National Park rangers, to any persons who required help.
Teams responded to three separate instances where exhausted and injured tourists required further assistance.
Rescuers slowly assisted two struggling visitors down the mountain, while a 45-year-old Dutch visitor was hoisted from mountainside up into the Western Cape Government Health and Wellness EMS / Air Mercy Service (AMS) rescue helicopter after injured her lower leg while descending the trail.
The incident was concluded at 19:30, after a team had searched down the trail to ensure everyone was safely off the mountain.
According to David Nel, a spokesperson for Wilderness Search And Rescue (WSAR): “Incidents like these require large multi-disciplinary teams and careful coordination, demonstrating the depth within Wilderness Search And Rescue and our ability to respond to wilderness emergencies.
“Numerous rescuers from all of our teams were either involved or on standby, ready to respond to the incident yesterday.
Not all heroes wear capes. The Wilderness Search And Rescue team do incredible work. Agree?
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