Johannesburg – The death toll from the collapse of a building in South Africa has risen to 24, with 28 people still missing, authorities said Monday, a week after the structure came crashing down.
Four bodies were recovered during the night and early hours at the site in the southern city of George, city officials said.
Rescue teams have worked tirelessly since the five-storey apartment block, which was under construction, suddenly collapsed last Monday.
Eighty-one people, mostly construction workers, were at the site at the time.
Twenty-nine people have been rescued so far.
They include a man who was pulled out on Saturday after 116 hours under the rubble. “It is a miracle that we have all been hoping for,” Western Cape provincial premier Alan Winde said on X, formerly Twitter.
Search teams have vowed to comb every cavity among the wrecked building but the chances of survival are fading.
Authorities said on Monday they were implementing a plan to “expedite the identification of the deceased”.
Relatives of the victims have expressed frustration over the pace of the identification process.
The reason for the collapse of the building, which was to include 42 apartments and had received planning permission, has not been established and an inquiry is under way.
Johannesburg – The death toll from a building collapse in George, Western Cape, climbed to 19, municipal authorities said on Sunday, with 33 people still unaccounted for, nearly a week after the structure came crashing down.
Rescue teams have been working tirelessly since an apartment block under construction in the southern city of George crumbled on Monday afternoon while a crew of 81 were on site.
Twenty-nine people have been rescued alive so far.
On Saturday an unexpected survivor emerged after 116 hours from underneath the rubble of the collapsed building, municipal authorities said.
Provincial authorities described it as a “miracle” as they rushed against time with rescue efforts.
“The question of rescuing… and recovery is still mixed, people feel that they still need to go very slowly especially with what happened yesterday,” police minister Bheki Cele told state broadcaster SABC during his visit to the site.
Family members housed in a nearby city hall since Monday, expressed their frustration to the police minister at the pace of the identification process.
Premier Alan Winde of the Western Cape province had previously said the process had been “difficult”.
Police were using fingerprints, DNA testing and photographs.
Previously authorities declined to comment on speculation about whether most of the crew were foreign nationals.
However the government said it would contact diplomatic missions of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi regarding the incident and have issued a call for a “psychosocial support practitioner proficient in Chewa, Portuguese, and Shona languages to assist survivors and their families”.
Construction plans for a 42-unit apartment block had been approved by the city in July.
The reasons for the collapse are still unknown.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@alanwinde
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