Hiker falls to his death

Published 14 years ago

Cape Town - 110321 - The patient who fell to his death is hoisted and secured in the AMs Helicopter by Andre Oliphant - Two young men were free climbing on Table Mountain near the India Venster trail when one of them fell roughly 40 metres to his death. Wilderness Search and Rescue, AMS, and EMS Rescue were on scene. The patient who fell roughly 40 metres was dead on arrival, his friend was in a stable condition but was taken for trauma counsellling. Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Johann Viljoen of WSAR helps the surviving man (who is american) out of the helicopter.Two young men were free climbing on Table Mountain near the India Venster trail when one of them fell roughly 40 metres to his death. Wilderness Search and Rescue, AMS, and EMS Rescue were on scene. Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Aziz Hartley

An excursion on Table Mountain ended in tragedy for two friends when one of them fell 10m to his death yesterday.

Claremont resident Mark Roux, 30 and his friend Henry Herman, 30, went for a hike on the mountain and were below the upper cableway station when Roux fell, Herman’s uncle Bruce Nygard said last night.

“Mark was a very avid hiker. He was a Boy Scout and very experienced.

“We don’t know how this could have happened,” Nygard said.

He said other hikers had alerted the emergency services after Roux had fallen to his death. A rescue helicopter was sent to retrieve Roux’s body near the India Venster route. It then picked up a shocked but uninjured Herman.

Metro Emergency Medical Services said the pair had been rock climbing without proper equipment.