George building collapse: Disaster management issues appeal for more safety equipment
Hundreds of rescuers on site of the fatal George building collapse need various items, including helmets, safety goggles, headlamps, and construction gloves.
Image of George building collapse site: Herman Pieters, Garden Route Municipality, posted on Facebook by George Municipality
CAPE TOWN - Disaster management in the Garden Route has issued an appeal for more safety equipment.
Hundreds of rescuers on the site of the fatal George building collapse need various items, including helmets, safety goggles, headlamps, and construction gloves.
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Officials said they've been inundated with volunteer requests after a 42-unit apartment block collapsed with 81 artisans on site on Monday.
The MEC responsible for disaster management, Anton Bredell, has appealed to the public not to respond to any requests for volunteers on social media, unless such a request is issued by the Joint Operations Committee (JOC) or the George Municipality.
"There are more than enough resources. We can just thank them because now we’re focusing on the operation. Even the families - it must have been the worst days of their lives waiting. Their basic needs? There are blankets, mattresses, [and] food.
"It’s the wait and therefore, there are people from the Department of Social Services working with them as the families, and also trying to identify the people in the hospital is a lengthy process."