George building collapse: Marathon rescue operation to save trapped construction workers continues

GEORGE - It’s a race against time for the remaining 47 construction workers trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building in George.

Seventy-five construction employees were on site when the multi-storey apartment complex collapsed on Monday.

Six people have been declared dead so far.

ALSO READ: 

- 22 construction workers rescued after building collapses in George

Drone technicians, disaster medics and specialist canines have joined the rescue effort in the Southern Cape since the distress call from the George CBD at around 2pm on Monday.

Since then, it’s been a marathon operation.

Eyewitness News arrived here at midnight, in convoy with additional crews called in from Cape Town and Worcester. 

While first responders tip toed across the mounds in a seemingly coordinated dance, excavators clear the heaps of loose bricks and other debris.

On the periphery of the site, ambulances idle along Victoria Street for an urgent response if someone is pulled from the rubble.

Environmental Affairs MEC Anton Bredell explained the meticulous nature of the rescue efforts.

“We must realise this is a four-storey building that collapsed; there’s different layers. We need to work from top to bottom to get through the layers. They do have communication and the medical teams are on standby. As they open up, the medical team gets in and does a quick assessment. Then move them to an ambulance.”

Provincial Disaster Chief Colin Deiner said teams carefully dismantled webs of iron rods and peels layers of rubble mounds to detect survivors overnight.

“We’ve actually been hearing people. We have sophisticated equipment that we can tap into them. At the moment, that’s where the focus lies. It will get more difficult, as the days go on. But at the moment we got areas we’re focusing [on]. There are quite a few more live people, it's the most I’ve even seen in a structural collapse like this. We’re positive we’ll bring out a few live people today [Tuesday].”

Then suddenly the bustle, creaks and sirens on the job go quiet. 

An eerie silence veils the site, as rescue workers try to pin-point calls for help from underground.

“It’s a race against the clock. It’s big material, heavy equipment, all folded into each other as the building collapsed. We must get through the next 24 hours to two days. That’s our time frame to see how many people we can get out alive,” Bredell said.

Over 100 emergency and disaster personnel from various municipalities are on site to locate those still unaccounted for.

On the sidelines of the cordoned off site, in the shadows of the emergency lights, emotional relatives huddle together, hoping their loved ones are next to be pulled to safety.

INDEPENDENT PROBE REQUEST

Meanwhile, the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Western Cape’s Benson Ngqentsu said it was not enough that maximum resources were deployed to this marathon search and rescue mission.

“The SACP calls on the Department of Labour and Employment to institute an independent inquiry into the cause of the collapse. The inquiry should focus on whether there was compliance with all applicable construction regulations.

“The investigation must be thorough to hold accountable those responsible for the collapse, ensure that construction workers do not experience such an incident ever again and that construction owners put the safety of the workers before profits,” Ngqentsu said.

PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA OFFERS CONDOLONCES TO FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF THE DECEASED

President Cyril Ramaphosa has offered his deep condolences to the relatives and friends of five people who have died in an incident.

“The president’s thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones as well as the families of close to 50 people who are trapped in the rubble,” said The Presidency in a statement.