Death toll from building collapse in George, Western Cape reaches 27
TThe death toll from a building collapse in George, Western Cape province has reached 27. It's been a week since a five-storey house at 75 Victoria Street collapsed, leaving workers trapped under rubble.
The City of George confirmed that 56 people had been rescued from under the rubble, with 25 still missing.
Rescue workers and volunteer staff remained at the scene for 169 hours, working to rescue all 81 workers who were on site at the time of the building collapse.
The George community solemnly reflected on the tragedy and held a moment of silence at the scene at 2:09pm on Monday.
George Mayor Leon Van Wyk said: “This act of solidarity is a gesture to honor those who lost their lives and to extend our heartfelt support to the families affected by this tragedy.”.
George residents celebrated on Saturday after 33-year-old tiler Gabriel Guambe was rescued from the rubble 118 hours after the building collapsed.
“We are very happy and it gives us hope that after all this time we can find more people who are still living with hope,” Van Wyk said.
The city of George said in a statement that it was difficult to obtain the exact names of those missing and dead after the building collapsed.
“The Joint District Operations Center's adherence to strict double-verification protocols is critical to maintaining the completeness and accuracy of reported death counts,” said Chantel Edwards, a city spokeswoman. is essential in emergency and disaster response scenarios.”
This verification process involves cross-referencing information from multiple trusted sources, including recovery teams, hospitals, and forensic services.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced during a site visit last Thursday that it had launched an investigation into the collapse.
The international standard for such rescue operations is three days, but the Western Cape's disaster management force said it would continue to rescue the 25 people still missing.