South African private ambulance service ER24 has released the names of the five people killed when an ambulance aircraft from Namibia crashed in a nature reserve near Cape Town on Sunday morning.

The victims were pilot Steven Naude‚ 53‚ his co-pilot Amore Espag‚ 23‚ a paramedic Alfred John Ward‚ a patient who was being evacuated from Oranjemund in southern Namibia‚ Gabriel le Roux‚ 80‚ and his daughter Charmaine Koortzen‚ 49.

“E-med Rescue 24 was in the process of evacuating an 80-year-old male on behalf of ER24 in South Africa from Oranjemund in Namibia. Our aircraft departed Oranjemund Airport shortly after 4am this morning and was expected to land at Cape Town International Airport in South Africa at 7am.

“Shortly before 7am contact was lost with the aircraft. Emergency services in Cape Town were activated to conduct a search for the missing aircraft. Emergency services personnel found the wreckage of the aircraft in the Tygerberg Nature Reserve with no survivors‚” ER24 said in a statement.

“It is understood from the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) that all aircraft approaching Cape Town International Airport at the time were placed in a holding pattern due to a technical fault with their radars. The E-med Rescue 24 aircraft was also in the holding pattern at the time. We lost contact with the aircraft approximately seven miles outside of the airport.

“We have since been in contact with the family and notified them of the incident. The patient’s family was on route from Oranjemund via road to Mediclinic Panorama. ER24’s ambulance was at the airport to collect the patient and his daughter to complete the last leg of the evacuation to Mediclinic Panorama.

“Although there is a lot of speculation regarding the exact cause of the crash‚ we are aware that the South African Civil Aviation Authority are on scene and will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter‚” ER24 added.