FOLLOWING the release of the Eastern Cape Prosecutor's Report, which states that "there are no grounds for a criminal investigation" against Storms River Adventures after the tragedy in March this year when 13 people drowned, the company reports no loss of business, the number of bookings remaining the same as last year.
"People seem to accept that, while by no means diminishing the tragedy, it was quite simply a freak accident and have continued to support us," says a spokesperson for Storms River Adventures, who was also one of the guides involved when 11 adults and two teenagers were killed after heavy rain caused a wall of water which swept them downriver.
The deceased were part of a corporate teambuilding group from Port Elizabeth participating in a black-water tubing exercise on the Storms River in the Tsitsikamma area.
Storms River Adventures is the only South African operator offering this kind of adventure which many believe is "tame" compared with other popular Southern African adventure activities such as white-water rafting, abseiling and bungy-jumping.
The South African Rivers Association's (SARA) report into the incident was also recently released and stated that while it was felt that "certain things could have been foreseen, it could not assign blame to any of the parties involved".
Storms River Adventures staff members, particularly those directly involved in the tragedy, received counselling after the event and while some say the event still haunts them, they are supporting each other and "working through it together".
(Adéle Mackenzie)
