British woman swept to death as she rides on South African beach

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This image was used to promote West Coast Horse Trails, who organised the trip that ended in tragedy

A British tourist died after she was swept out to sea at a remote beach in South Africa while out riding her horse.

Claire Jackson had been riding on the beach at Wavecrest in the Eastern Cape with a friend and their tour guide when disaster struck.

To return to their hotel, the trio had to cross a river mouth which was swollen after heavy rains.

Claire's horse lost its footing and she was thrown into the water and swept out to sea by the current. Her body was later recovered by guests at the hotel.

South African Police Superintendent Gcinikaya Taleni said: "It seems that the tide sucked one of them out to sea."

The beach resort is ten miles down a dirt track from the nearest main road and is one of the most isolated in the Eastern Cape.

It is in an area formerly known as the Transkei homeland - a desperately poor region that was the birthplace of ex-president Nelson Mandela.

Conrad Winterbach, owner of the Wavecrest Hotel where the two British women were staying, said 36-year-old Claire, an engineer from London, and her friend Lindsey Tibbs, 24, were on a tour organised by their guide Julie-Anne Gower's company Wild Coast Horse Trails.

The firm advertises itself as "South Africa's premier horseback beach-riding holiday vacation along the Transkei & Eastern Cape Wild Coast".

Mr Winterbach said: "They had gone on a ride and they needed to cross the river to get back. We've had very heavy thunderstorms and massive flooding which has gouged out channels in the river bed. As they went across, the horses fell into a fast-moving channel. The other two got back to the river bank but Claire was swept out to sea. It was a terrible, freak accident."

Mr Winterbach described how he himself was almost swept away when he tried to rescue Claire. He said: "I took my boat out, but as soon as I got out of the river mouth I was swamped. Luckily I had a life jacket on. The boat was washed on to the rocks.

"The other guests managed to pull Claire out and on to a flat rock, but there were no vital signs. We tried to revive her for an hour but we couldn't save her."

Claire's horse survived and was found about an hour later. The two other horses were also discovered later that night.

The remoteness of the area meant it was two hours before rescue services arrived. Captain John Fobian, of the South African Police Service's Disaster Management Division, said they had done all they could once the alarm was raised.

"They requested assistance from East London but it's a two-hour drive from there to Wavecrest. They requested helicopters but they have to come out of Durban or Cape Town and that would have meant a three-hour delay, so we sent what we could by road."

Mr Winterbach said both survivors were too traumatised to speak and that Miss Tibbs was still at the hotel. "A lot of people have tried to speak to her but she just keeps breaking down," he added. "She recognises it was a freak accident. She doesn't blame anyone."

 

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