Contact with construction workers under collapsed building in South Africa

NOS News•today, 12:19

Rescue workers in the South African city of George are in contact with 11 survivors under the rubble of the building that collapsed there. There is hope that they can be saved.

“It is a difficult operation,” says the director of the provincial fire brigade. “It involves a lot of concrete, so we think it will take some time. The search continues all day long. We have a lot of people on site, but it is really hard work.

The multi-storey building under construction suddenly collapsed yesterday afternoon. At the time, 75 construction workers were working. Rescuers worked all night long.

They recovered five dead bodies and took 21 construction workers to hospital. There has been no further contact with 38 colleagues who are probably also under the rubble.

“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” says the fire director. “You have to break the concrete first and then cut the rebar.”

The police started an investigation. Surveillance camera footage shows the building and scaffolding surrounding it collapsed at 2:09 a.m. local time.