"Bless Those Heroes": Durban Rescue Teams Retrieve Man from Drain After Robbery in Video

• Rescue teams were called to Riverside Road in Durban North after a man was robbed and pushed into a stormwater drain by attackers
• Passersby heard the victim calling for help from underground and alerted authorities, who deployed rope and extraction gear
• SAPS opened a robbery case and urged anyone with information about the incident to come forward

A man's terrifying ordeal beneath the streets of Durban North ended with a dramatic rescue on 1 September 2026. Rescue personnel, firefighters, and police responded to Riverside Road after the victim was robbed and forcibly thrown into a stormwater drain by his attackers.

The man was trapped in the dark underground structure overnight and called out until passersby heard him and raised the alarm. eThekwini Fire and Emergency Services, alongside search and rescue officers and local security units, arrived on the scene and rigged rope and pulley systems to reach him inside the shaft and hoist him safely back to the surface.

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Paramedics treated him at the scene for injuries and shock before transporting him to a nearby medical facility for further care. SAPS has since opened a formal robbery case and is investigating the circumstances surrounding the attack. The rescue scene was captured by IOL on Facebook. Watch the on-scene rescue footage from Riverside Road:

Durban amazed by rescue effort

People were shaken by what happened and took to the comments to voice their concerns:

@Jennifer D Stevens said:

"Besides whatever happened, why was it open"

@Raj Govender wrote:

"So many people that work in nearby buildings walk to and from work. Law enforcement should sniff out those criminals and keep the area safe for everyone including cyclists and joggers."

@Karen Lynn Freeman added:

"Hopefully some CCTV footage. Praying he makes a full recovery and the culprits are caught."

@Sylvia Joy Wilson said:

"Bless those heroes! 🙏"

@Owen Rolando noted:

"Only human animals can do something like that."

@Wayne O'neale shared:

"Good job guys. Everyone out there, take care and think before you walk or run in this violent society."

Other Briefly News stories about

• An alarming robbery incident included two men who were deprived of more than R150 000 outside Groblersdal Mall in Limpopo.
• Details about a harrowing incident involving a man and woman who were robbed at gunpoint in a South African parking lot sparked outrage across social media.
• An e-hailing driver's car was hijacked by his passengers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on 27 August 2026.

Source: Briefly News