George building collapse: Number of people unaccounted for rises to 44, deaths now at 8

09/05/2024

Cape Town – A Mossel Bay electrician is among more than 20 people recovering in hospital after spending more than 24 hours trapped under rubble of the collapsed building in George.

Delvin Safers, 28, is one of the 75 workers who were in the multi-storey building under construction on Victoria Street when it collapsed on Monday afternoon.

Safers was on-site along with three of his colleagues when the building came down on them.

After spending more than a day underneath the debris, Safers was rescued by emergency personnel shortly after a phone call with his father after 3pm on Tuesday.

His father, Deon Safers, 62, said the family was overjoyed and thankful that he was found alive.

“We are very happy. All of us are excited and we cannot stop talking about it, if we just think about what we went through,” he said.

While stuck under the collapsed building, Safers was communicating with his family using his cellphone and said he could hear rescue services workers knocking and drilling above his head.

Just before being saved, he sent a message to his mother informing her that he was in a dark location, had no feeling in his legs, and that his battery had only 9% of its power left.

“The hospital said he would be transferred to another hospital. They took X-rays but nothing was broken in his body,” Deon Safers said.

More than 200 rescue personnel remained on site trying to rescue 44 people still unaccounted for last night.

More than 200 rescue personnel remained on site trying to rescue 44 people still unaccounted for last night. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers

The five-storey apartment building under construction collapsed on Monday. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers

More than 200 rescue personnel remained on site trying to rescue 44 people still unaccounted for last night. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers

The number of people unaccounted for has gone up from 38 as the Garden Route District Joint Operational Centre established for the site collapse updated the figure of those present on site at the time of the incident.

“This follows intensive discussions and scrutinization of the safety records with the responsible contractors. The contractor has now confirmed that the number of workers on site at the time of collapse was 81,” George Municipality said.

The municipality confirmed on Thursday morning that 37 people have been retrieved, 8 people are dead, 16 people were in critical condition, six had sustained life-threatening injuries and seven sustained minor injuries.

“Rescue efforts have continued overnight. The emergency response team is implementing more substantive concrete breakers and additional trucks to remove building rubble from the site,” the municipality said.

Experts say the chances of survival drop dramatically after 72 hours.

Theuns Kruger, Director of Liatel Developments, the contracted builder of the structure, told Reuters it was trying to assist those on site of the five-storey residential building.

“The investigations to follow obviously will reveal what has transpired and what has happened, but at this point in time it’s just saving as many people as we possibly can,” Kruger said.

Moses Malala, a 35-year-old site supervisor who survived to tell the tale, is among those who were recovered from the rubble.

A sub-contractor at Bossover Construction, Malala said he was on level five when the building caved in.

“A big sound came from the basement. I went to check and I saw the dust coming up. One second I saw the slab was cracking and going down,” he said.

“All my guys were on top of the roof. I don’t know how I got down as I was standing next to my wife.”

Malala escaped the devastation with minor injuries to his knee and foot, but said some of his colleagues were still trapped underneath the building.

“Every night I can’t sleep. I have been here on the site since Monday to check our guys.” One of the men still missing is Charles Thangalimodzi, his sister, Edna Nisi, said.

She told the Cape Argus they had chatted at 1.45pm on Monday, after which Thangalimodzi stopped replying.

“It is Wednesday. We didn’t hear anything. He has two kids and a wife. I’m saddened but I’m a believer that Charles will make it. However, you can’t stop the thoughts that one would not make it, but we are holding to our faith,” she said.

Charles Thangalimodzi remains missing under the rubble in George. Pic: Supplied

George Municipality said a specialised asbestos removal company had been tasked with deconstructing the parking structure located at the back of the site. This is to aid access for rescue operations.

Colin Deiner, the chief director of Western Cape Provincial Disaster Services, said the building had provided a range of challenges.

“It is a long and difficult stage because we now have to look for 38 bodies in a five-storey structure that collapsed and finding those bodies is very difficult. You have to break a lot of concrete,” he said.

Rescuers have already started to try to move the massive concrete slabs with a crane.

“We are moving away from rescue equipment to demolition equipment. It doesn’t mean we are moving from rescue to recovery, but we have to change the equipment to the conditions of the building,” Deiner said.

Professor Richard Walls from Stellenbosch University’s structural engineering department, who was present at the site on Thursday, echoed what Deiner said.

SU Professor Richard Walls. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers

“We have more than 3000 tons of concrete. We are monitoring it carefully so it is not moving. This is far beyond search and rescue in terms of small equipment. Larger equipment is being brought in,” he said.

Meanwhile, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi is expected to visit the site at midday today where he will get an update from rescuers and Occupational Health and Safety inspectors from the department.

He is expected to brief the media.

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Cape Argus