Rescue workers communicate with people trapped in collapsed George building

Five deaths have so far been reported following the collapse of a multi-storey building that was being constructed on Victoria Street in George.

Group Editors’ Ilse Schoonraad spoke to George Mayor Leon van Wyk at the scene this morning.

Van Wyk confirmed that 21 survivors have been removed from the rubble and 49 people are still unaccounted for.

“We are in the critical stage now, with the first 24 hours… We need to try and get as many people [as possible] out… We are about six hours away from the first 24-hour period. There will be feverish activity today to try and get to the areas where we believe there are people…”

“There has been a little bit of verbal communication with [trapped] people, and some cellphone communication with people.”

He said the difficulty is getting through the reinforced concrete of the four levels that have ‘compacted into each other’. “You have to pry in between the different floor levels and work very carefully so that you don’t cause a further collapse,” said Van Wyk.

He added that ‘there’s all sorts of specialist equipment that has come in’ and he’s grateful to the City of Cape Town and the provincial government that sent through teams last night. SAPS also sent sniffer dogs from Cape Town and Worcester

Speaking to Van Wyk, Schoonraad said the question on everyone’s mind, is how can something like this happen in a town like George?

“It’s difficult to understand and comprehend what has taken place,” said Van Wyk.

He added that the Department of Labour and SAPS have been at the scene and will be investigating the cause of the collapse.

“In a building of this size, you need engineers and structural engineers and all of those competent people that would need to do ongoing testing the way construction like this takes place. No doubt, in time, this will be found out.”

Watch the full interview:

 

Speaking to injured trapped in rubble

The head of Western Cape Disaster Management, Colin Deiner, said in a video interview from the site at 07:30 today that they had contacted 12 of the trapped people.

“We’ve been speaking to them and they have been reacting to us, but we have to break through four floors to reach them.”

Deiner explained that rescue efforts are focused on specific areas.

The cause of the collapse is not yet known. “We are still in rescue mode,” he said.

Watch: Everyone on the scene, including the journalists, maintain absolute silence as rescue workers listen for sounds of life under the rubble:

This morning, Schoonraad took the video below of rescue workers removing scaffolding: