Two die climbing Table Mountain

Two people have died and another has been rescued after they fell while climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town.

The night-long rescue efforts saw hundreds of tourists stranded on top of the mountain, as the cable car had to be used for the technical rescue operation.

Rescuers abseiled from the cable car to assist the climbers.

Wilderness Search and Rescue spokesperson Johann Marais says the bodies of the male and female who died, have been recovered off the mountain, and the injured woman has been transported to hospital.

“As far as we can ascertain,  and this is still unconfirmed,  a South African mountain guide took two female foreign tourists on an outing on the portion of the mountain just below the cable car and all three fell at one point in Time. Although they were attached to ropes, the third person, one of the female tourists, survived the fall,” says Marais.

Wilderness Search & Rescue #TableMountain rescuer doing cpr on patient on cliff pic.twitter.com/lPiyoWlj6T

— Hanti Otto (@HantiO) January 1, 2018

So after being stranded up Table Mountain we made the descent ( in my Birkenstocks) and boy was it scary. pic.twitter.com/YnTyR5onSH

— Fiona Domkowicz (@fionadomkowicz) January 1, 2018

While cable cars trips are being delayed to allow our team to assist with the mountain rescue, all visitors will be transported down soon. We thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time.

— Table Mountain C/Way (@TableMountainCa) January 1, 2018