<p>A freak wave killed three swimmers and seriously injured 17 others Saturday at a popular beach in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/south-africa" target="_blank">South Africa's </a>southeastern city of Durban, the emergency services said.</p>.<p>"There was a freak wave that washed some people to sea, three have drowned and 17 people have been taken to hospital," Robert Mckenzie, spokesman of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial first responders services told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>One of the dead was a child aged around seven or eight years old, and the injured are "in serious or critical condition", he added.</p>.<p>But a statement from city officials said later Saturday that those killed included "a teenager".</p>.<p>It said 35 lifeguards were involved in the "mass rescue effort" as paramedics attended to more than 100 people caught in the incident.</p>.<p>It happened at around 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) at the Bay of Plenty, one of the popular beaches in South Africa's third-largest city.</p>.<p>The emergency services said that they were afraid the toll would rise.</p>.<p>Durban has gradually been re-opening its beaches after closure due to high levels of E.coli coming from the city's sewer system, badly damaged by deadly floods earlier this year.</p>.<p>The floods, the worst in living memory, killed more than 400 people in April.</p>
<p>A freak wave killed three swimmers and seriously injured 17 others Saturday at a popular beach in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/south-africa" target="_blank">South Africa's </a>southeastern city of Durban, the emergency services said.</p>.<p>"There was a freak wave that washed some people to sea, three have drowned and 17 people have been taken to hospital," Robert Mckenzie, spokesman of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial first responders services told <em>AFP</em>.</p>.<p>One of the dead was a child aged around seven or eight years old, and the injured are "in serious or critical condition", he added.</p>.<p>But a statement from city officials said later Saturday that those killed included "a teenager".</p>.<p>It said 35 lifeguards were involved in the "mass rescue effort" as paramedics attended to more than 100 people caught in the incident.</p>.<p>It happened at around 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) at the Bay of Plenty, one of the popular beaches in South Africa's third-largest city.</p>.<p>The emergency services said that they were afraid the toll would rise.</p>.<p>Durban has gradually been re-opening its beaches after closure due to high levels of E.coli coming from the city's sewer system, badly damaged by deadly floods earlier this year.</p>.<p>The floods, the worst in living memory, killed more than 400 people in April.</p>