Ketchup SOS saves snowbound climbers

The group of families were saved after a mountaineer radioed for help and then used tomato ketchup to write an H in the snow to help an air force helicopter land.

Much of eastern South Africa has been struck by severe winter storms, and on Monday parts of Eastern Cape province were declared disaster areas, after the deaths of some 22 people in the past week.

Heavy rain and snowfall has caused power failures and widespread damage to homes, schools, farms and businesses, with damage already being put in the millions of dollars.

Relief workers have been sent to the area with emergency supplies, which includes the Drakensberg Mountains, the country's highest range, on the border with Lesotho.

Severe weather conditions have lasted for several days, and a number of families found themselves stuck in the Sani Top pub, some 2,874 metres (9,480 feet) above sea level.

Scary trek

The Johannesburg-based The Star newspaper reported that vet and mountaineer, Tod Collins, with guide Alan Champkins, walked through treacherous waist-deep snow up the Sani Pass, braving strong winds and temperatures as low as -30C to reach the pub.

"Perhaps the scariest thing was that the snow was so deep, you couldn't see where the track ended and the cliff began," he told the paper.

By Sunday night, when they arrived, the pub had run out of fuel to burn, water supplies had frozen solid and food supplies were said to be critical.

Tod Collins then used a VHF radio he had carried with him to call in an air force Oryx helicopter to airlift the group, which included several children and a baby, to safety.

"That tomato sauce H was excellent," helicopter pilot Lieutenant Steven Lownie said.

"It was like Day-Glo."

Day-Glo is a brightly coloured dye that can be used by pilots to attract attention when they ditch into the sea.

Elsewhere in the same mountain range, rescuers said 16 students evacuated from a snowed-in campsite were in good condition on Monday.

The snow also trapped more than 130 drivers over weekend in their vehicles, with heavy flurries initially preventing rescue helicopters from reaching them.