‘We became one heart': Rescue teams, community stand by family affected by sandbank collapse

TimesLIVE

26-05-2025

A desperate Durban father used his hands to dig through sand that had collapsed on his two children on Saturday.
In a heart-wrenching Facebook post, Marshall Security first responder Andreas Mathios said time stood still when an embankment collapsed and buried two children in Durban North.
'What followed was nothing short of a testament to the strength of human spirit, courage and compassion. I will never forget the sight of a heartbroken father, driven by desperation and love, digging with his bare hands — frantic, trembling, hopeful. Each handful of earth he moved was powered by anguish and an unrelenting belief his children could be saved.
'Then came the rescuers — our firefighters, metro police search and rescue, paramedics and volunteers — coming together as one. Their coordination, strength and determination carved through the chaos. I saw the hope in their eyes, even as mud covered their faces and exhaustion gripped their bodies. They never stopped,' he said.
Mathios said there were premature sighs of relief when the girl was found alive.
'There was a glimmer of hope, a breath of light in the dark. But hours later, after tireless excavations and prayers whispered between breaths, the outcome we feared most came to pass. Her little brother was found. I'll never forget how a metro police officer gently wiped the mud off his own face, knelt beside the boy, and crossed his small arms with reverence. Then, with unimaginable tenderness, he called the father to say his final goodbyes.'
'No words can describe the sound of a grandfather's sobs, a soul breaking in real time, or the pain etched into the faces of a family torn apart,' he said.