Mbombela (Nelspruit) – Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide following the retrieval of two bodies from an SUV that had inexplicably plunged into the Crocodile River in KaMagugu, Mbombela in Mpumalanga, over the weekend.
On Sunday, 7 June 2026, a police search-and-rescue team, acting on witness information, located the submerged vehicle in the river and managed to drag it out to the bank.
The bodies of a man and a woman, aged between 18 and 23, were inside the vehicle when it was recovered.
“The bodies were found trapped inside a white SUV, and specialised rescue equipment, including the Jaws of Life, had to be used to retrieve them,” said police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane.
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The tragedy took a turn for the worse when family members suggested a third person may have been in the vehicle when it overshot an intersection, crashed over a fence, and landed in the crocodile-infested river.
“As the police were preparing to leave the scene, another family arrived and informed members [police officers] that their son had reportedly been travelling in the vehicle,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ndubane.
“According to the family, he has not returned home, and they have been unable to reach him on his cellphone.
“They believe he may be the third victim still missing in the river.”
Lieutenant Colonel Ndubane said the police had opened a case of culpable homicide.
The identities of the deceased and the missing person have not yet been revealed.
