Ni\u00ebl Terblanch\u00e9<\/p>\n
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THE body of one of the two men who drowned after they fell out of a fishing boat when it capsized in the sea off Swakopmund on Wednesday morning was found washed up on a beach north of the Platz am Meer shopping centre.<\/p>\n
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The head of the Namibian Police\u2019s Public Relations Division, Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi, confirmed that the body of one of the drowned crew members was retrieved.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are still looking for the deceased person\u2019s family to make a positive identification,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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The tragedy occurred when the boat was approaching the launch ramp in the small craft area in front of the shopping centre.<\/p>\n
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The man, whose body was recovered, as well as another man both worked as crew members on a ski-boat at the time of the accident.<\/p>\n
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The boat capsized when it broached a freak wave.<\/p>\n
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The two crew members fell into the sea and drowned.<\/p>\n
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The owner and skipper of the boat, along with two other men, survived because they were able to hold on to the craft.<\/p>\n
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When the boat righted itself, the two crew members were nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n
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Members of the Namibian Police\u2019s Sea Rescue Team and the Namibian Sea Rescue Institute of Namibia (SRIN) spent hours searching for the two missing men.<\/p>\n
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Rescue swimmers used a drone to look for the missing men and at one stage a private pilot flew over the scene a few times with a helicopter to assist with the search.<\/p>\n
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The search was called off late on Wednesday afternoon when the sea became too rough.<\/p>\n
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According to Adri Goosen, the Chief of the Swakopmund Fire Brigade, the body was found by a joint patrol consisting of members of the Swakopmund Neighbourhood Watch and another volunteer crime prevention group at about 01:00 on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
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