Women saved after hours under capsized boat Date : October 15, 2012 - 9:02AM Aislinn Laing, Dan Newling and Sam Marsden
Ordeal ... a tug tows the charter boat that capsized from the site of the accident. Photo: Reuters Three women on a whale-watching boat that capsized off Cape Town, killing two, survived in shark-infested waters by breathing from air pockets under the hull for more than three hours. Fishermen and other boats in the area were able to pull to safety most of the 35 passengers within minutes. They were British, French and South African citizens, including four children. After much encouragement and despite one female refusing to shed her life jacket, the police divers successfully brought both out to safety. Police divers were sent in when it was discovered that four people were still missing after hours in waters where temperatures were estimated at little over 5 degrees and where great white sharks are a known hazard. Victim .... Sharleen Malan cries after the body of her partner, John Roberts, a crew member of a capsized boat ,was recovered. They were to be married next week. Photo: AP As rescuers banged on the hull of the upturned boat, they were astonished to hear tapping from inside. First to be recovered was a South African woman who had been breathing from an air pocket in a shallow part of the hull. The two British women was trapped deeper inside the boat. Advertisement It took the divers almost two hours to reach Lynette Hartman, 55, from Cardiff, and Bronwyn Armstrong and persuade them to shed their life jackets so they could swim out. Brad Geyser, from the National Sea Rescue Institute, said one of the women was a chronic asthmatic and was given a police diver's breathing apparatus. Rescued ... survivors are assisted on shore after being taken from the boat. Photo: AP "After much encouragement and despite one female refusing to shed her life jacket, the police divers successfully brought both out to safety," he said. The women were treated in hospital for hypothermia and later released. The two dead were named as Peter Hyett, 64, from South Wales and a crew member, John Roberts. Mr Hyett was at the end of a holiday in South Africa with his wife, Suzanne, 63, and daughter Helen, 37. They were also on the stricken Miroshge charter boat, which overturned in rough seas about 300 yards offshore in Hout Bay. The body of Mr Roberts was recovered from the seabed. Telegraph, London Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/women-saved-after-hours-under-capsized-boat-20121015-27loh.html#ixzz29Oj9IoXp [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
