According to reports, a “freak” wave that smashed a beach in Durban, South Africa on Saturday caused at least three deaths and more than a dozen injuries. 

Beachgoers in the oceanside city were swept away onto a pier during the event, which happened at approximately 5:00 pm, according to Emergency Services (EMS) member Njabulo Dlungele on North Beach in Durban.

Dlungele wrote in a tweet on Saturday that “EMS reacted to reports of a freak wave that carried a group of beachgoers against the pier inflicting many injuries. Unfortunately, three people, including a teenager, were pronounced dead at the site.”

Dlungele said that 15 people suffered injuries and the beach was closed off. Some of the injuries were serious and witnesses indicated that more people involved in the tragedy had died. 

More than 35 lifeguards were assisting more than 100 people who were affected by the fatal wave.

In response to Dlungele’s tweet, a woman from Durban wrote, “Please research further…my 12-year-old niece died upon arrival at the hospital and she’s not the only one. Three confirmed dead is wrong. Sixteen kids drowned on Durban beach yesterday and no one is reporting on it,” she continued in a subsequent tweet.

The woman elaborated on her allegation in a statement to People magazine online, saying that the hospital nurses were saying that many families had lost loved ones and that there were people still missing. 

On behalf of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, local government leader Nomusa Dube-Ncube posted on Facebook on Saturday and said that the accident was still under investigation and that the government is “grieved by this unfortunate loss of life.”

“It is believed that a freak wave put many into distress while swimming and they tragically drowned,” he added.