SAPS
It has been four days since a man plunged to his death at the Bloukrans Bridge in the Tsitsikamma with the SANDF now offering its support.
Police were called out to the bridge on Monday when the man's motorbike with a GP registration number was found partially hidden in the bushes, just off the N2 near the bridge.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu says members of the Gqeberha K9 Search and Rescue Unit, SAPS Diving Unit, Metro EMS from Gqeberha and Sarah Baartman District, as well as Storms River SAPS were deployed to the bridge early on Tuesday morning.
She says the team managed to abseil to a certain level where they could confirm that there was a body below.
The Bridge, which is 216 metres high, proved to be somewhat of a challenge and air support from the South African National Defence Force was brought in to help extract the body from the Bloukrans River Gorge.
Colonel Naidu says around 11h30 on Thursday, the recovery operation commenced.
Almost three hours later (14h15), the body of a 47 year-old man was airlifted from a depth of 180 metres.
The deceased was identified as Matthys Cornelis Bothma from Gauteng.
Police have opened an inquest docket.
