EC floods: Search & rescue teams commited to working through tough conditions
It’s been 16 days since heavy rains triggered flash floods across parts of the province and nearly three weeks later, the discovery of a five-year-old boy’s body has pushed the toll to over 100.
Eastern Cape EMS team members recovered another body on 24 June 2025, following flooding in the province earlier in June. Picture: Jacques Nelles/EWN
MTHATHA - Rescue teams in the Eastern Cape have committed to continuing search operations as more bodies are discovered, more than three weeks after deadly floods tore through parts of the province.
This is the fourth deployment of search crews, including SAPS K9 units, disaster management officials and volunteers from Gift of the Givers.
The OR Tambo District Municipality alone accounts for 77 of the 101 confirmed deaths, including 58 children, 23 of them school pupils.
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It’s been 16 days since heavy rains triggered flash floods across parts of the province and nearly three weeks later, the discovery of a five-year-old boy’s body has pushed the toll to over 100.
Rescuers said that while the terrain was tough and the conditions mentally draining, their work wasn’t done.
Rubble still lines the streets where homes once stood. Clothing, shoes and furniture remain entangled in fences and trees dragged there by floods of water.
Siseko Mcakuvana, who is part of the Gift of the Giver’s rescue team, said: "The operation comes with a lot of fatigue. So, as the fatigue comes in, other team comes in so that the operation doesn't stop."
In some communities, families are still searching for their loved ones, hoping for closure amid the destruction.