Dragon's Wrath 2014

Tugela Falls

There was a fatality at Tugela Falls on or before 23rd December. It is unknown if it was an accident or suicide and is the subject of an inquest.
The body was recovered by a joint team of SAPS, MCSA and Ezemvelo. A locally based helicopter was used to transport the team and equipment to the scene. Team members accessed the body by abseiling down to it from the summit and used a rope rescue system to raise the body to the summit. It was then flown down and removed by SAPSvehicle to Bergville Mortuary. The aircraft then ferried the team down to RNNP.

Steve Cooke
MCSA KZN Rescue team

thanks, must be the same incident ... something obviously got lost in the translation

I was camping by the Tugela Falls on December 28th. A group of other hikers told me they had been told a guy had committed suicide on Christmas day, but he must be the December 23th guy you're referring to?. I found this inscription inside the mountain hut:

Hi Guys,

It has being a long time since doing a write up on VE but being out of action for a while due to a motorcycle accident.

On the 23 of December I took a few friends for a day hike up the Chain ladders to Tugela Falls. We arrived at the falls at about 9:30AM with two other hikers, we were the first group on that day to be there, I was laying on my tummy looking over the edge explaining something to a friend when I noticed a body.

I did not have a pair of binoculars and with the naked eye it was really hard to confirm what we were seeing. However I Made a call to Gavin Raubenheimer to find out if he knew if any one was reported missing. nobody was.

So on the way back towards the chain ladders I came across a Wtsieshoek guide who was able to confirm that it was a body which had fallen, and so the alert was sent

Once I got back to the car park I asked the guard who all the vehicles belonged to and we found a unlocked VW Golf with the keys and everything still inside. The guard said that the man driving it was there two days earlier however not feeling well he left and came on the morning of the 23rd December at around 5am.
I looked through the vehicle and found some identification and contact numbers which I handed over to Witsieshoek hotel and they took everything from there.

My thoughts and recall of this is that the whole ordeal was a sad and grim experience to our hike, however at least he was found and I did everything possible to speed up the process of the recovery.

I have attached a photo of the position where he lay. marked with the arrow.



Look forward to seeing you guys in the mountains and Chris (Intrepid) 40 is getting old bud.