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Four people are confirmed dead and 51 are still missing after a building on a construction site collapsed in George yesterday.

In an update this morning, the George Local Municipality confirmed that four people had been declared dead and another 20 had been rescued. Of those rescued, more than half have had serious injuries.

Authorities are still searching for 51 people.

The multi-storey construction site at 75 Victoria Street, which was next to the George municipality offices, collapsed shortly after 14:00 on Monday.

CCTV footage supplied to EWN shows the moment a building collapsed in George, in the Western Cape on 6 May 2024. According to a notice issued by the George Municipality, the collapse ‘involves multiple patients’. pic.twitter.com/HBPXizPCAQ

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 6, 2024

Multiple disaster service personnel, including police search-and-rescue teams with sniffer dogs, are currently involved in a rescue operation to retrieve the trapped construction workers.

Environmental Affairs MEC Anton Bredell explained the meticulous nature of the rescue efforts.

GEORGE UPDATE: CONSTRUCTION BUILDING COLLAPSE

DEATH TOLL: FOUR (4)

TRAPPED: FIFTY ONE (51)

“Twenty-four (24) patients have been removed from the rubble of the collapsed multi-story construction site at 75 Victoria Street, leaving fifty-one (51) persons unaccounted for.… pic.twitter.com/NNUnWoQZew

— Athi Mtongana (@AthiMtongana) May 7, 2024

Bredell reminds us that the building that collapsed is four-storeys;

“There are different layers. We need to work from top to bottom to get through the layers. They do have communication and the medical teams are on standby. As they open up, the medical team gets in and does a quick assessment. Then move them to an ambulance.”

“It’s a race against the clock. It’s big material, heavy equipment, all folded into each other as the building collapsed. We must get through the next 24 hours to two days. That’s our time frame to see how many people we can get out alive,” Bredell said.

Premier Alan Winde said: “All the necessary support has been offered to emergency personnel to expedite their response. At the moment, officials are focused on saving lives. This is our top priority at this stage.”

[source:news24]