By Esther de Villiers
Over 100 emergency and support personnel are present at the Victoria Street site in George, Southern Cape, where a multi-storey building under construction collapsed shortly after 2pm on Monday.
George Municipality said that 75 members of the construction crew were on site at the time of the incident. In a statement released at 11:30am today, it confirmed that the death toll now stands at six.
“Sadly, six of the 27 patients [retrieved from the rubble] have been declared deceased,” according to the latest statement. The number of fatalities is expected to rise as operations continue throughout the day.
Multiple disaster service personnel, including SAPS Search and Rescue teams with sniffer dogs, are involved in the operation to retrieve the 48 construction workers still trapped under the rubble.
Extra emergency personnel were deployed from the City of Cape Town and Worcester Disaster Services as well as Western Cape Provincial Disaster Services yesterday afternoon, and were expected to arrive around midnight.
Cape Town mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith requested that drivers on the N2 make way for these crews and vehicles.
“We have specialised heavy-duty technical rescue vehicles in our firefighting fleet, with an assortment of rescue and search equipment especially catering for situations where structures have collapsed.
“We have assembled firefighters and have deployed two of our technical rescue trucks to assist.
“It’s a race against time and we ask motorists on the N2 to please be considerate and make way for these heavy-duty rescue vehicles,” said Smith.
Family and friends of construction workers involved in the incident have been gathering at the main municipal building in George CBD, which is adjacent to the site and has been closed since shortly after the disaster.
They are being assisted by the Department of Social Services and social workers from George Correctional Services. Humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers also responded to the disaster.
All access from York Street has been blocked off since early afternoon. Throughout the night, this main drag of George was ablaze with the lights and sirens of emergency vehicles speeding to and from the scene.
Pictured above: The site where a building under construction collapsed yesterday afternoon.
Source: Supplied
