Rescue workers have retrieved 36 people from the multi-storey building that collapsed in George on Monday afternoon. 75 construction workers were on-site in Victoria Street when the building collapsed.
George Municipality spokesperson Chantel Edwards says 7 people died, 16 are in critical condition, 6 sustained life-threatening injuries and 7 have minor injuries. 39 people are still trapped under the debris.
Rescue workers and the humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers stepped in to assist with rescue interventions and to the debris. The K9 sniffer dogs have been of great aid in assisting the rescue workers in identifying where the victims have been trapped.
“Rescue operations continue at the building collapse site on Victoria Street today with a multi-disciplinary rescue team of more than 200 emergency services available,” says Edwards
The rescue workers have working around the clock for the past 43 hours.
Death toll expected to rise
The death toll in the collapsed apartment building which was under construction in George in the Western Cape, is expected to rise. Provincial disaster management has confirmed that there are bodies they can’t get reach at this stage.
Western Cape Disaster Management head, Colin Deiner, explains “So, there’s 39 still unaccounted for. We have found some bodies. We haven’t recovered them yet because they still deeply trapped and we’re focusing on finding live ones, but we will recover them as we move on. It’s going to be difficult. I mean let’s be straight it’s going to be difficult now because of the fact that we moved into day 3. But the focus is still there. The teams know what they are doing. They understand how this type of collapse work.”
Our teams on the ground are working tirelessly to rescue the remaining 39 individuals. I cannot express the emotions I felt yesterday when the site would suddenly go completely quiet in the hope that our teams might be close to locating another survivor. 🥺
We have shown that… pic.twitter.com/fnofNkhTy7
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) May 8, 2024
Nearly half of the trapped 75 workers have been extracted. The total number stands at 36, amongst them 7 deaths, while 39 remain unaccounted for.#GeorgeBuildingCollapse #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/lBDNIONwJV
— Sphiwe Hobasi (@MrCow_man) May 8, 2024
