Ramaphosa at site of George building collapse; search continues for missing persons
Thirty-three people have died as a result of the incident which occurred 10 days ago.
President CyrilRamaphosa (right) at a briefing on operations at the George building collapse on 16 May 2024 in the town of George, in the Western Cape. Picture: @PresidencyZA/X
GEORGE - President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived at the site of the collapsed building in George.
Thirty-three people have died as a result of the incident which occurred 10 days ago.
Authorities estimate that 81 people were working on the partially completed apartment complex at the time of the crash.
Nineteen people are still unaccounted for.
President @CyrilRamaphosa has arrived at the Garden Route District Municipality offices in the Western Cape; received by @WesternCapeGov Premier Alan Winde, @HomeAffairsSA Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, @deptoflabour Minister Thulas Nxesi, @NationalCoGTA Minister Thembi Nkadimeng and… pic.twitter.com/phgl5gI611
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) May 16, 2024
The search continues in the remaining two sections of the site.
About 2,500 tons of rubble has been moved from the site.
Five hundred tons remain.
For the purpose of this marathon operation, the rubble mounds were divided into six sections.
Two of these sections have not been fully cleared into the basement area.
Searches of this pocket will continue, so the attention will turn to the structural deficiencies that resulted in the collapse.
The labour department is already looking into it, including the involvement of errant structural engineer, Athol Mitchell, of Mitchell and Associates.
Disaster management officers expect to hand the site over to the South Africa Police Service on Friday.