FATAL FALL: A rescue team removes the body of the 14-year-old boy from Houston, Texas.

Mom finds her son lying lifeless

TRAGEDY struck an American family in town for the World Cup when their 14-year-old son plunged to his death on Table Mountain yesterday. The boy and his 10-year-old brother were hiking down Skeleton Gorge with their parents following behind them.

Hugo Vaughan of Wilderness Search and Rescue said the boy had fallen about l0m to the base of one of the wooden ladders on the route. It is believed that he died immediately. The family, from Houston, Texas, who declined to be named until their family back home had been informed, had earlier walked up the path, which lies above Kirstenbosch.

Vaughan said that while the boys were coming down Skeleton Gorge the elder boy slipped and fell near one of the ladders. The couple contacted the owner of their Hout Bay guest house who in turn alerted the emergency services. Vaughan said the section where the boy fell was steep but not associated with fatalities.

"We often get people with twisted ankles." He added that the family had not been in the country long. "They are very upset. But we have had wonderful support from the US embassy, the Claremont police and Fifa joint operations centre."

The Red Cross Air Mercy Service's helicopter was called in to retrieve the boy's body. Spokeswoman Venessa Horn said the boy's mother told rescuers that the family had been coming down the route between Skeleton Gorge's ladders and the boy was holding on to branches to look at a waterfall below when he fell. The mother told rescuers that she climbed down and found her son lying lifeless below.

Police spokesman Colonel Billy Jones said police informed the department of tourism and the US embassy. He confirmed that the police had spoken to the family, but said they had asked that their identities not be released until their extended family back home in the US had been notified. Jones said the police would try to conclude the investigation as quickly as possible.
US consulate spokesman Nathan Holt said: "Officials from the consulate in Cape Town are in touch with the family and are providing assistance." Paddy Gordon, manager of Table Mountain National Park, extended his "heartfelt condolences" to the boy's family Gordon said that over the past year they had made significant strides in spreading awareness about safety and security on the mountain.

"We have investigated visitor safety and security as well as traffic on the mountain with the eye on the influx of visitors expected to attend the World Cup. "We have assessed and improved our visitor safety programme, distributed brochures, pamphlets, erected signs and improved the condition of footpaths." On its website SA National Parks warns that parts of Skeleton Gorge are slippery "Even in summer take special care after rain and in winter avoid this route during and immediately after heavy rain," it says.

Article:            Sunday Weekend Argus

Date:              13 June 2010-06-14

Journalist:       Thandanani Mhlanga, Helen Bamford and Warda Meyer

Picture:           Ayanda Ndamane