Search continues for two fishermen who went missing at Coffee Bay
|Published
Police said the search for Bongani Bana, 42, and his friend Richard Joseph Sham, 50, who went missing while fishing near the Hole in the Wall in Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape on Friday, continued this morning. Bongani Bana, 42, and his friend Richard Joseph Sham, 50, went missing while fishing near the Hole in the Wall in Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape on Friday. Picture: Supplied in missing person alert.
Police continue to search for two men who went missing after they went fishing at Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape on Friday.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli confirmed that missing person cases were opened for 50-year-old Richard Joseph Sham and 42 year-old Bongani Bana.
Nkohli said the two men were reported missing at the police station in Coffee Bay on Friday afternoon.
He said it was alleged that on Friday at about 4am the two men went on a fishing trip to the Hole in the Wall in Coffee Bay.
“It is said that after the two men failed to return from the trip, Sham's wife went to the fishing spot, where she found her husband's vehicle abandoned and later reported the matter to the police,” said Nkohli.
Police said that on Saturday morning, the SAPS Search and Rescue team and other stakeholders resumed the search.
Nkohli said a private chopper also conducted an aerial search.
“This morning, the search is continuing in the area. Some volunteers are conducting coastal patrols,” he said.
A missing persons alert for the men has been circulating on social media.
In an update on the post, an appeal was made for the public to keep an eye out for the men.
“They could be exhausted somewhere in [the] surroundings,” it said.
According to the post, some pieces of Bana’s wetsuit and fishing belt were recovered as well as two of his dreadlocks.
“Still no sign of them or any clothing belonging to Ricky,” it said.
The alert said the assumption is that they were swept off the rocks.
THE MERCURY