Two men nearly lost their lives when they jumped off a wall into the overflowing Vaal Dam.

By JUDY LELLIOTT

The men, both aged 34, were on their way home to the Gauteng town of Heidelberg when they reached the dam, which is 108% full, just after 1.30am.

The two men dared each other to leap into the raging waters below. All 13 sluice gates were open at the time, pumping out 1850 cubic metres per second.

Dick Manten, National Sea Rescue Institute station commander at the Vaal Dam, told The Times: "They were daring each other to jump. They'd had a couple of drinks, and the next thing they were in the water.

"We got a call at 1.35am from people living on the Vaal bank to say they heard someone screaming for help."

Police and the NSRI brought out rescue boats to search for the two.

"One man was in a tree far down the river where the water was raging," Manten said.

The man, whom the NSRI and police refused to name, was found clinging to a tree near the Deneysville area.

The search for the unnamed second man then continued for several hours, but to no avail.

"I called off the search. The man's father arrived and I told him not to give up hope as, come sun-up, we would continue searching," said Manten.

The second man was later found, also in a tree, further downstream when the search resumed at 6am.

"Those two are very lucky. They were putting other people's lives in danger, not just their own," Manten said.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said: "We will rescue anyone, regardless of how they got into a situation."

ER24 paramedic Werner Vermaak said the two men refused medical treatment.

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Wow, South Africans are also capable of making it on to the list!

Submitted on 02/02/2010

Submitted by: Laura Nelson
Reference: The Times, Tuesday, 2 February 2010

Copyright © 2010 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
What on earth did these idiots expect, jumping into raging water like that? Thanks for sending this in, Laura!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Double HM, indeed! Thanks, Laura!

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