I. M. Esperto
23rd Jul 2002, 14:26
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?newslett=1&click_id=79&art_id=ct20020722213211748W360548&set_id=1
Saved from snow by a vet - and tomato sauce
July 22 2002 at 09:32PM
By Tony Weaver, Jillian Green and Sapa
All that stood between life and death for 31 people snowed in at the top of Lesotho's Sani Pass was an intrepid veterinarian - and tomato sauce.
Underberg vet Tod Collins trudged through waist-deep snow in minus-30C winds at the weekend to set up Monday's dramatic rescue of seven families - including 17 children, one a 16-month-old baby - by an SA Air Force Oryx helicopter from Durban's 15 Squadron.
Among those rescued was Barry Pike, a businessman from Hout Bay in Cape Town, who said the group of families were on a trip to the Maluti Mountains when they became trapped in "life-threatening" conditions on Thursday night near the Sani Top - at 2 874m, the highest pub in South Africa.
Collins, 53, a member of the rescue team of the Mountain Club of SA, and who was assisted by tour guide Alan Champkins, 33, said Sunday's walk to the trapped people had been "hairy".
"The snow drifts were waist deep and soft, so the going was very heavy. There was a wind of about 55km/h blowing and we were in constant danger of being blown off the edge. The wind chill factor was around minus-30C.
"But perhaps the scariest thing was that, because the snow was so deep, you couldn't see where the track ended and the cliffs began. So I hugged as close to the mountain as I could, and probed my way forward with a ski pole."
Collins carried in two VHF radios, first-aid kits and emergency rations, and used the radios to talk Lieutenant Steven Lownie and his crew in the Oryx down on Monday morning.
But first he and the stranded families stamped down a large patch of snow behind the pub at Sani Top and wrote a huge H, using diluted tomato sauce.
"That tomato-sauce H was excellent," Lownie said later. "It was like DayGlo."
"We could possibly have evacuated the stronger adults on foot, but it would have been disastrous to try to get the kids out like that," Collins said.
The families were airlifted to Himeville, where Pike said: "Tod Collins was awesome. I've never been so glad to see someone in my life before."
By Sunday night, when Collins hiked in, the Sani Top Chalets had run out of wood and coal, and food supplies were critical. Water supplies had frozen solid and they were melting snow to drink.
On Saturday afternoon, an Inspector Naidoo from the Sani Pass border post managed to hike in with a supply of coffee, tea - and fresh trout.
Lownie and his crew on Monday flew in a load of coal, wood and food for staff at Sani Top. Hours later, the wind had come up again and flying was impossible.
On Monday, the snow-hit Eastern Cape areas of Cala, Ugie, Elliot, Indwe and Barkly East, where four people froze to death at the weekend, were declared disaster areas by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi.
Fifty-three businesses, 102 farmhouses, more than 3 000 informal dwellings and several schools have been damaged in the past six days.
The national death toll from the bad weather rose to at least 22. About 190 guests and 100 staff members were also still trapped at the Tiffendell Ski Resort near Rhodes.
At least 12 people were arrested for looting and appeared in Eastern Cape courts on Monday.
The Absa Group launched an emergency fundraising campaign for KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, and donated the first R25 000. Woolworths in Queenstown pledged food worth R110 000.
Saved from snow by a vet - and tomato sauce
July 22 2002 at 09:32PM
By Tony Weaver, Jillian Green and Sapa
All that stood between life and death for 31 people snowed in at the top of Lesotho's Sani Pass was an intrepid veterinarian - and tomato sauce.
Underberg vet Tod Collins trudged through waist-deep snow in minus-30C winds at the weekend to set up Monday's dramatic rescue of seven families - including 17 children, one a 16-month-old baby - by an SA Air Force Oryx helicopter from Durban's 15 Squadron.
Among those rescued was Barry Pike, a businessman from Hout Bay in Cape Town, who said the group of families were on a trip to the Maluti Mountains when they became trapped in "life-threatening" conditions on Thursday night near the Sani Top - at 2 874m, the highest pub in South Africa.
Collins, 53, a member of the rescue team of the Mountain Club of SA, and who was assisted by tour guide Alan Champkins, 33, said Sunday's walk to the trapped people had been "hairy".
"The snow drifts were waist deep and soft, so the going was very heavy. There was a wind of about 55km/h blowing and we were in constant danger of being blown off the edge. The wind chill factor was around minus-30C.
"But perhaps the scariest thing was that, because the snow was so deep, you couldn't see where the track ended and the cliffs began. So I hugged as close to the mountain as I could, and probed my way forward with a ski pole."
Collins carried in two VHF radios, first-aid kits and emergency rations, and used the radios to talk Lieutenant Steven Lownie and his crew in the Oryx down on Monday morning.
But first he and the stranded families stamped down a large patch of snow behind the pub at Sani Top and wrote a huge H, using diluted tomato sauce.
"That tomato-sauce H was excellent," Lownie said later. "It was like DayGlo."
"We could possibly have evacuated the stronger adults on foot, but it would have been disastrous to try to get the kids out like that," Collins said.
The families were airlifted to Himeville, where Pike said: "Tod Collins was awesome. I've never been so glad to see someone in my life before."
By Sunday night, when Collins hiked in, the Sani Top Chalets had run out of wood and coal, and food supplies were critical. Water supplies had frozen solid and they were melting snow to drink.
On Saturday afternoon, an Inspector Naidoo from the Sani Pass border post managed to hike in with a supply of coffee, tea - and fresh trout.
Lownie and his crew on Monday flew in a load of coal, wood and food for staff at Sani Top. Hours later, the wind had come up again and flying was impossible.
On Monday, the snow-hit Eastern Cape areas of Cala, Ugie, Elliot, Indwe and Barkly East, where four people froze to death at the weekend, were declared disaster areas by Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi.
Fifty-three businesses, 102 farmhouses, more than 3 000 informal dwellings and several schools have been damaged in the past six days.
The national death toll from the bad weather rose to at least 22. About 190 guests and 100 staff members were also still trapped at the Tiffendell Ski Resort near Rhodes.
At least 12 people were arrested for looting and appeared in Eastern Cape courts on Monday.
The Absa Group launched an emergency fundraising campaign for KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, and donated the first R25 000. Woolworths in Queenstown pledged food worth R110 000.