Three people, including a teenager, died on Saturday when a freak wave hit a popular beach in South Africa, authorities said.

The unusually large wave pulled dozens of people into the sea off Durban in the country's southeast.

The tragedy happened at around 5:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) at the Bay of Plenty, one of the popular beaches in South Africa's third-largest city.

Seventeen people were reportedly treated for injuries in the hospital.

"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 the AFP news agency.

One of the dead was a child aged around 7 or 8 years old, and the injured are "in serious or critical condition." he added.

Death toll could rise

The emergency services said that they were afraid the toll would rise.

A statement from city officials said later Saturday that those killed included "a teenager."

The city said more than 100 people were caught in the incident.

Dozens of lifeguards and a medical care team were involved in the rescue operation, a government spokesperson said.

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.

The floods, the worst in living memory, killed more than 400 people in April.

mm/sms (AFP, dpa)