Five people were death when an apartment complex under construction collapsed in a coastal town in South Africa. Another 49 workers are still missing in this incident.
The country’s authorities said on Tuesday (May 7) morning local time that the accident happened on Monday afternoon in the town of George, about 400 kilometers east of Cape Town on South Africa’s southern coast.
The authorities also said that the country’s rescue team worked through the night to rescue dozens of workers who were buried under the rubble for more than 12 hours. Another 21 workers were rescued from the rubble and taken to various hospitals, at least 11 of them with serious injuries.
Hundreds of emergency workers and other rescue workers are working on the scene. They are using trained dogs to find stranded workers. They fear that several others may have been trapped under the huge slab of concrete when the five-storey building collapsed. Large cranes and other heavy equipment are being used for rescue operations. In addition, long spotlights have been installed to assist search and rescue personnel in night operations.
George Municipality said 75 workers were working in the building when it collapsed. Three teams of rescuers are working in different parts of the collapsed building, they said.
George’s Executive Mayor Leon van Wyk expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and the victims. He said, relatives are waiting to find their loved ones.
