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By Everson Luhanga & Palesa Matlala
- Six workers were confirmed dead after a concrete slab collapsed between floors at a two storey building under construction in Omonder on Monday afternoon.
- Rescue teams are still searching for three missing workers, while two others remain trapped under rubble and one injured worker was taken to hospital.
A normal workday turned into horror when a concrete slab suddenly gave way at a construction site in Omonder.
The collapse happened at 6 Amethyst Business Park on Amethyst Road at 14:03 on Monday.
The building was a two storey structure that was still under construction. Workers were busy on the site when a concrete slab between the floors gave way. The first floor then failed, sending rubble crashing down.
Six people were declared dead at the scene.
Emergency crews rushed to the site within minutes. Rescue teams pulled one worker from the rubble. Two others are still trapped. Three more workers are missing.
It is still not clear if the missing workers were inside the building when it collapsed.
Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Xolile Khumalo said: “Emergency Management teams are currently responding to a building collapse at 6 Amethyst Business Park, Amethyst Road, Omonder. Rescue operations are underway, with priority being given to search and rescue and securing the scene.”
Alphas, a builder who survived, said he had just gone out to buy lunch.
As he was about to walk back in, he “heard a loud bang and thought the dust was smoke”.
He ran inside and through a broken wall saw debris from a slab they were preparing to fill.
“I work as a slab filler. We received ready mixed cement and we were about to fill the slap before the actual collapse happened,” said Alphas.
Another worker, Mhlanguli Ngulube, said they had noticed a problem earlier.
He said when workers started upstairs, they realised the bottom slab needed to be redone to make the structure safe.
“There were no pillars to ensure the structure remained strong. I was on the ground floor joining the piping system,” said Ngulube.
He said he heard his colleagues screaming for help until “it went silent”.
“There are nine of them. Some of them I worked with for more than nine years,” he said.
Khumalo said the cause of the collapse is still unknown.
“A complete assessment is being conducted, and additional resources have been mobilised to support the response efforts. Members of the public are urged to avoid the vicinity to allow emergency personnel to operate safely,” she said.
Authorities said they will share more information as soon as it becomes available.
Pictured above: Rescue teams search through rubble after a concrete slab collapsed at a construction site in Omonder on Monday afternoon.
Image source: Palesa Matlala
This story has been updated.
