Family of George building collapse survivor grateful for his 'miraculous' rescue
For 29-year-old Delvin Safers, from Mossel Bay, a daring rescue directed by voice notes from underground was nothing short of a miracle.
Rescue workers and sniffer dogs at the site of a collapsed building in George, Western Cape on 6 May 2024. Picture: Herman Pieters/Garden Route District Municipality
GEORGE - The father of one of the survivors of a fatal building collapse in George says he’s grateful his son is alive.
Twenty-nine-year-old Delvin Safers, from Mossel Bay, was the electrician on site when the five-storey apartment complex fell to the ground.
Eight of his colleagues died in Monday’s tragedy.
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For his family, Delvin’s daring rescue directed by voice notes from underground was nothing short of a miracle.
Safers was trapped in the dark and pinned down by slabs of concrete for 25 hours, with his cellphone on 22%.
In short voice notes, at one-hour intervals, to save battery power, he led rescuers to where he and a deceased colleague was lying - in the ruins of Unit 7 of the apartment complex.
“They (rescuers) are in the section underneath me. They’re removing the rubble. I hope they move quickly. I won’t make it, I have no energy. I’m tired, tired, tried.”
He started knocking a brick against a steel ladder lying beside him.
In excruciating pain, he couldn’t feel his legs or his left arm and was fast losing steam.
“I’m knocking against something metal. But my arms are sore. It’s difficult to with these painful arms but I’ll keep knocking.”
Delvin suffered a broken rib and is badly bruised on his face and all over his body.
Doctors are optimistic he will be discharged over the weekend.