On January 27, a deputy sheriff of the court after he plunged to his death into the ocean after falling from a steep ladder.
What happened?
The police and the South African Maritime Safety Authority were called in to investigate the death of a deputy sheriff, who reportedly plunged atleast 8 metres into the ocean while climbing a steep ladder to execute a warrant of arrest on Liberian vessel the Blue Marlin I.
The 42 year old, Port Elizabeth North deputy sheriff Henry Kemp had climbed on the steep ladder to serve an arrest warrant to the Liberian vessel, but unfortunately fell down taking down all the paperwork authorising the arrest with him.
Fell to his death
The deputy sheriff boarded a pilot boat from Port of Ngqura and made his way to the ‘Blue Marlin’ and had almost reached the top of the ladder, when he paused for about two minutes before falling backwards.
The emergency services were dispatched to the scene of incident and found him unresponsive. The deputy sheriff was pulled out off the sea by the crew members of Blue Marlin.
NSRI Port Elizabeth station commander Ian Gray said, “The organisation had played a supporting role in the operation as Kemp had been plucked from the sea by Blue Marlin crew members. We got a call at about 7.15pm from Coega port control about a person who had fallen into the water while boarding a ship”.
He further added, “We were told he was unresponsive. We departed with a rescue and evacuation crew and metro emergency services. We went out in a Coega pilot boat and, when we got there, put metro emergency services paramedics in safety harnesses so they could board the ship”.
The deputy was declared dead by the paramedics who found Kemp unresponsive and later confirmed, via an ECG monitor.
Investigation launched
The ship has been detained since the deputy sheriff’s body was not removed immediately from the vessel as it is considered as a potential crime scene. An investigation has been launched into the incident to determine the sequence of events.
Disclaimer: The above image is for representation of the below incident and need not be considered as an actual case image.
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Source: Herald Live
