Drone used to rescue mother and daughter who got lost and disoriented while hiking in Durban nature reserve
Drone used to rescue mother and daughter who got lost and disoriented while hiking in Durban nature reserve
Durban — Emergency services used a drone to rescue a mother and daughter who got lost and disoriented while hiking in a nature reserve in Durban over the weekend.
On Sunday, Mobi-Claw 911 said two hikers, a mother and daughter, were on a hike in the Palmiet Nature Reserve when they became lost and disoriented.
Mike Myers, CEO of Mobi-Claw 911, a division of Mobi Ventures, said the duo managed to call 10111 who then reached out to Mobi-Claw 911 and local volunteers to assist in locating the hikers who were starting to suffer from exhaustion.
Myers said the hikers did not have data on their phone and could not send a location pin. Mobi-Claw 911 management purchased data and sent it to the hiker’s phone.
“They then managed to get a location pin to us however because of the dense terrain they could not be seen.
“Mobi-Claw 911 operations director Wynand Laatz launched a drone and guided the hikers to the river where he managed to get a visual of them. 10111, a volunteer search and rescue member and Wynand worked together to guide the volunteers to their position and then used the drone to guide them all out via a nearby trail,” Myers explained.
Myers said that in the meantime, it had asked for help from IPSS Search and Rescue, Start Rescue, Metro Police Search and Rescue and ER24 who were all on standby and in attendance to assist where necessary.
“The hikers were checked out by ER24 paramedics to ensure they had no serious injuries before they made their way home,” Myers said.
“Well done and thank you to all involved in this successful rescue.”
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