- About 40 construction workers are still missing after a building collapsed in South Africa on Monday.
- Seven workers were confirmed dead and many others were injured, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.
- Specialist teams and heavy equipment are helping search for survivors through the rubble.
Nearly 40 construction workers were still missing on Wednesday amid the rubble of a building that collapsed on Monday in South Africa, and rescue teams were still missing in the remains of an unfinished five-storey apartment complex. The search for survivors has continued for three days.
Seven workers were confirmed dead, authorities in the city of George on South Africa’s south coast released new information on injuries, and 16 of the 29 people rescued from the rubble were admitted to hospital in critical condition. It was announced that the remaining six people’s lives were in danger. injury. It said 39 workers were still missing, buried under concrete rubble and torn metal scaffolding.
The collapse of the building, which was still under construction, brought in specialized disaster response teams from other towns and cities to carry out frantic rescue efforts. According to the City of George, a total of 75 construction workers were on the construction site at the time of the collapse.
Construction building collapses in South Africa, trapping 40 workers
More than 200 rescue workers continued to search for survivors using sniffer dogs and underground cameras. Cranes and other heavy equipment were brought in to lift some of the huge concrete slabs that had fallen on top of the workers, while rescue workers formed a line to manually remove smaller pieces of debris.
Rescue workers search the scene of a building collapse in George, South Africa, on May 8, 2024. Rescue teams are searching for dozens of missing construction workers after a high-rise apartment building collapsed in a coastal city. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Rescuers said some survivors used mobile phones to contact family members while trapped under the rubble, which helped emergency workers find them.
There were cheers and applause as some of the survivors were rescued Tuesday night.
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The City of George continued to appeal for donations of water, energy drinks and food for rescue workers who were working in shifts for more than 40 hours. The Western Cape government has sent emergency response teams from Cape Town and other cities to assist with rescue efforts, which officials said were likely to last at least until Friday.
George is a city of approximately 150,000 people on South Africa’s picturesque coastal Garden Route and is a well-known holiday and golf destination.
Authorities said multiple investigations were being conducted into the cause of the building collapse, including by police, the state government and the national labor ministry.
