Police, emergency services search for victims after Jakaranda centre collapse
“We only have one confirmed fatality at this point, however, teams are still searching.”
Police and emergency services teams are searching for more victims of a structure collapse at a construction site at the Jakaranda shopping on Thursday morning.
“We only have one confirmed fatality at this point,” said police spokesman Captain Anthony Breedt.
“Emergency teams are, however, still searching and investigating. We are still waiting for the count from the construction supervisor to verify whether everyone is accounted for.”
Breedt said SAPS was alerted about the incident around 11:30 Thursday morning.
One person has since been declared dead and 10 sustained slight injuries and four sustained serious injuries.
“All of those who sustained injuries were transported to various hospitals by ambulance,” Ambu-Link paramedics spokesperson Xander Loubser said.
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The centre’s engineering team has yet to give the green light as to whether it would be safe for the rescue team to recover the body, according to Tshwane emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso.
“It is still unsafe for emergency personnel right now.”
The cause of the structure collapse remains unknown.
The police’s K9 dog team will also search for more possible bodies as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, the centre’s management said they would revert to Rekord once they had more information.
Watch what eyewitness Heidi Schutte had to say:
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