Search continues for survivors of building collapse in South Africa
Rescuers are employing cranes, drills, and their bare hands to reach dozens of people trapped after a multi-story building under construction collapsed in the South African city of George, killing at least six people.
Out of the 75 workers present at the construction site, 48 are still missing as of Tuesday. Authorities have not commented on the cause of the collapse, which occurred on Monday.
While rescue teams maintain communication with 11 individuals buried in the debris, families anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones are in tears, fearing the worst.
"We treat everybody as still alive," stated Colin Deiner, chief of disaster management for the Western Cape province, during a press conference.
Despite the grim situation, there have been moments of hope. The crowd clapped and cheered when rescue workers successfully extracted a person alive from beneath broken concrete slabs and twisted steel reinforcements. Additionally, contact has been made with other survivors as search efforts continue with the aid of sniffer dogs.
"We have one area where four people are in a basement, and we've been communicating with them, so that's quite a big operation that's taking most of the day to get them out," Deiner mentioned.
As of now, 27 individuals have been rescued from the site, located in the coastal city east of Cape Town, including at least six fatalities.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a thorough investigation into the incident.
Liatel Developments, the construction company responsible for the building, stated that it is working to assist those at the site of the collapsed five-storey residential structure.
"The investigations to follow obviously will reveal what has transpired and what has happened, but at this point in time it's just saving as many people as we possibly can," remarked company director Theuns Kruger to Reuters.
CCTV footage viewed by Reuters captured a cloud of dust as the building crumbled.
A local councillor informed reporters on Monday that she heard a "boom" before witnessing the building's collapse.
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