Five people were killed and at least fifty people were left trapped when a five-story apartment building under construction collapsed on Monday. Rescuers in South Africa are currently looking for survivors.
Despite the fact that numerous other workers were present when the building fell, officials in the Western Cape province’s George city report that 26 people have been extracted from the debris and transported to the hospital.
An inquiry is underway to determine the cause. As the structure collapsed, a massive cloud of dust was visible on neighbouring video footage.
On Tuesday morning, emergency personnel were working the little site one by one, manually clearing debris and concrete blocks.
Occasionally, the team captain raises his hand to signal a pause. In the hopes that someone has been located, everyone pauses and observes. The cacophony continues, and some of them are false alarms.
It has taken a while to recover the survivors, and most of the workers who were on the building site are still missing.
Two of the people who were extricated from the debris perished from their wounds. Afterwards, medics reported three more deaths.
The public has been kept out of the area. However, a large number of shocked and bewildered people are still gathered around the boundary.
The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the incident a. nd asked that the inquiry be conducted in order to “bring closure to the community and prevent a repeat of this disaster.”
Ald Van Wyk, the mayor of the city, expressed his sympathy to the families as “all those affected who continue to wait for word of their loved ones.”
To find the people trapped in the structure, over a hundred rescuers using sniffer dogs worked through the night. The procedure was assisted with the help of heavy lifting equipment.
Authorities reported that they had managed to get in touch with a few people who were buried beneath the debris. When the fall occurred, at least 75 personnel were reportedly present at the location.
Images taken in the vicinity currently display a totally levelled construction site, with pieces of the building’s roof resting on top of the debris.
“I observed one man working, and then all of a sudden, the building collapsed… I’m traumatised as well. Local councilwoman Theresa Jeyi was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying, “It is very sad.”
