‘MISSING’ SA COUPLE DECLARED SAFE IN FISH RIVER CANYON

A South African couple from Franschhoek has been declared safe after they had reportedly gone missing while hiking through the Fish River Canyon.

Earlier this week, Namibia Wildlife Services said that a search was underway for 63-year-old Trevor Burger and his 50-year-old wife Samantha.

Times Live reports that the couple was among a group of hikers, six of whom finished the challenging five-day hike through Africa’s longest canyon.

Earlier this week, rescuers received several distress signals. A search party was sent to the popular tourist site, but when the rescuers reached the point where the hikers indicated they were waiting for them, there was no one to be found.

At the time, Tana Lancaster, the couple’s daughter told a local Namibian news outlet that her parents were fit and active, and had hiked the canyon before.

“They are supposed to check in every night and we haven’t heard from them since Thursday night when they arrived to start descending on Friday.”

Times Live went on to report that Namibian media reported that the couple had not logged out when they left the canyon.

The executive director in the ministry of environment, forestry and tourism, Theo Nghitila, has since confirmed that nobody was missing.

“There is no emergency,” Nghitila said.

At this stage, it’s not clear when and where the couple was found.

Image credit:  The Common Wanderer