The Kruger National Park (KNP) managing executive, Dr Bandile Mkhize, expressed his sincere sympathies this morning to the next of kin of the two students who died in the Pretoriuskop Rest Camp´s swimming pool on Friday night (March 14, 2008).

"Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the family and friends of the two victims of the incident," Mkhize said.

According to a statement by Mr Raymond Travers, media relations practitioner of the Kruger National Park, the bodies of the two students from New Era College in Malamulele were found early on Saturday morning (March 15, 2008) in the fenced-off swimming pool area. The statement added that on Friday night at about 18:30, camp management had reacted to a complaint from another guest staying in the camp, who reported rowdy behaviour from the swimming pool area.

"The Pretoriuskop duty manager ordered the group to return to their accommodation units and informed the supervisors of the group that if they continued with their inappropriate behaviour, they would be escorted out of the park. The group returned to their accommodation units and there was no report of anyone missing at that stage. The South African Police Service (SAPS) arrived on the scene on Saturday morning to investigate the incident and recovered the bodies," the statement reads.

"We will assist the SAPS with the investigation as far as possible in an attempt to find out what happened," Mkhize concluded.