One Brit dies several more hospitalized in Hout Bay capsizing

 
Rescuers tow a charter boat that capsized on a popular sight-seeing trip in Cape Town
Reuters
15 October 2012

A British man has died and several other tourists are in hospital after a boat capsized in South Africa.

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed the death of one British national at Hout Bay near the western city of Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.

"Several British nationals were also hospitalised following the incident, most of whom have now been released," the spokesman said.

The dead Briton has been named in media reports as Peter Hyett, 64, from the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

His wife Suzanne, 63, and her daughter Helen, 37, from Bournemouth, survived the accident and were treated in hospital, reports say.

The family were holidaying in South Africa for two weeks and were due to return to the UK at the weekend.

There were also reports that two other British women on holiday were found clinging on beneath the boat by divers looking for bodies.

Lynette Hartmann, 55, and Bronwyn Armstrong, whose age is unknown, were believed to be trapped in an air pocket under the catamaran for nearly four hours before they were rescued.

The body of South African tour guide John Roberts was found after the rescue effort, reports say.

Craig Lambinon, of the National Sea Rescue Institute, said there were 38 people on board the charter boat Miroshga.

At least 24 of the survivors were taken to hospital with serious or minor injuries and many of them were foreign nationals.

It remains unclear what caused the boat to capsize near Duiker Island, which is popular with tourists hoping to see seals.

The waters are also believed to be shark-infested.

Mr Lambinon said maritime officials in South Africa were already investigating.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT