Another KZN flood victim's body found

Durban police search and rescue teams have discovered a body, which they believe to be another flood victim.

Durban - Police search and rescue teams have discovered a body - believed to be another flood victim - near Cuttings Beach in the south of Durban.

On Sunday night his identity had yet to be confirmed officially, but it is thought he could be Musa Mchunu, a 39-year-old father of three who went missing while trying to save a teenage girl from rising floodwaters in Umlazi last week.

Mchunu’s sister, Siphindile Mchunu, said on Sundaythat he was a devout Christian and was engaged to be married. He had three sons, the youngest of whom was just 1 year old.

Last Monday night, police search and rescue teams and the National Sea Rescue Institute conducted a rescue operation in Umlaas Road, Umlazi. A 16-year-old girl had become trapped on an island in the middle of the river and a man had swum out to try to help her, but he, too, had become trapped.

The NSRI described how one of its own, Paul Bevis, along with police search and rescue's Jacobus van der Merwe, braved the raging waters of the river for more than an hour to get them back to safety. But amid all the commotion, a third person - Mchunu - disappeared.

All search and rescue efforts were called off in the early hours of Tuesday.

But teams continued to look for Mchunu. When the skies cleared on Wednesday morning, they returned to the Umlaas River, but the operation had to be suspended because of the strength and speed with which it was still flowing. Then on Friday they found the body among flotsam and debris. It is expected to be identified today (Monday).

* The authorities said on Friday that they would scale down their search for missing Sunningdale woman Brenda Lynn Scriven, but family, friends and members of the public continued with a “community-led” search at the weekend.

However, by last night she had still not been located. The family has opened a "Searching for Brenda" fund. Bank details are: First National Bank, Scriven; Account: 62628400179. Code: 250655. Any excess funds will be donated to K9 search and rescue.

The Mercury