Garden Route National Park employees are shocked after one of their colleagues fell to his death on Thursday afternoon while removing alien vegetation near the Bloukrans River.
Sanparks' Garden Route National Park spokeswoman Nandi Mgwadlamba said on Friday that 23-year-old Franklin Koopman had been part of the team in the biodiversity social programme (BSP) and had been busy clearing the forest and fynbos areas of invasive alien plant species when tragedy struck.
An Oudtshoorn Western Cape Health Department medical emergency service rescue helicopter was dispatched at about 12.30pm after reports that a man had fallen down a cliff in the Nature's Valley area.
When rescue workers arrived on the scene, they found Koopman had fallen down a 60m sheer cliff about 8 kilometres west of the Bloukrans River while doing alien vegetation removal.
"Unfortunately the patient was already deceased when the rescue crew arrived on the scene. The cause of the incident is unknown," Venessa Horn, spokesman for the SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service said.
She added the rescue crew airlifted the body off the cliff. "Three colleagues, including a ranger from Sanparks who went down the cliff to assist the patient, was also airlifted uninjured to safety. Due to the gradient of the cliff it was too dangerous for them to hike back up the mountain. The rescue mission time was 49 minutes."
"Words cannot begin to express our loss, the team in Tsitsikamma will not be the same without him. Colleagues have described him as hardworking and dedicated," Mgwadlamba said.
-Yolande Stander
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Pictures:Hilton Roman
