Soil collapse claims three in Capital Park
The workers were busy with repair duties on a sewage line when a trench collapsed in on them.
Three buried bodies were recovered on Saturday morning in Capital Park after a lengthy search and rescue operation was carried out during the afternoon of August 11.
The victims are believed to be aged between 20 and 35 years.
The bodies recovered were those of three victims who were found buried after soil collapsed on them at an excavation site in Capital Park.
The workers were employees of a contractor for Tshwane Metro, and were busy repairing a sewage line in Capital Park, when a trench they were working on collapsed on them.
The trench is estimated to be six metres deep and four metres wide, according to emergency officials on scene.
The bodies were recovered just after 06:00 by the Tshwane Emergency Services Fire and Rescue, the Gauteng Emergency Medical Service and colleagues of the victims on site.
Tshwane Emergency Services Department spokesperson Thabo Charles Mabaso said the teams began the search and rescue operations on Friday afternoon and it continued until Saturday morning.
Mabaso said the rescue technicians used two back actor earth working machines to create a stable slope for safe access for the technicians to retrieve the bodies.
“The incident occurred in Myburgh Street, Capital Park at approximately 15:55 on 11 August 2023,” he said.
“One contract worker was transported to a nearby hospital with moderate to serious injuries, while two escaped with no injuries from a trench estimated to be six metres deep and four metres wide.”
He said the names of the victims could not yet be released pending notification of their families by the South African Police Services (SAPS), who were also on the scene.
He said the scene was now under control and had been handed over to the Police for further investigation.
Mabaso further urged contract workers in Tshwane follow safe working standards and ensure that ground surfaces are stable and protected.
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