The number of fatalities from a building collapse in South Africa has risen to 21, according to municipal authorities on Sunday. Almost a week after the structure collapsed, 31 people are still missing.
Since an apartment building under construction in the southern city of George collapsed on Monday afternoon while 81 people were on site, rescue crews have been working nonstop.
Thus far, twenty-nine people have been saved alive.
After 116 hours, an unexpected survivor appeared on Saturday from under the debris of the fallen building, according to local authorities.
Provincial officials hailed it as a “miracle” as they hurried to complete rescue operations in record time.
During his visit to the scene, Police Minister Bheki Cele told state network SABC, “People feel that they still need to go very slowly, especially with what happened yesterday.” “The question of rescuing… and recovery is still mixed.”
Family members who have been staying in a neighboring city hall since Monday told the police minister how frustrated they were with how quickly the identification process was going.
Western Cape province premier Alan Winde had earlier described the procedure as “difficult”.
Photographs, DNA testing, and fingerprints were used by the police.
Authorities had previously refrained from commenting on rumors regarding the nationality of the majority of the crew being foreign.
Nonetheless, the government declared that it would discuss the situation with the diplomatic missions of Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique and that it has called for a “psychosocial support practitioner proficient in Chewa, Portuguese, and Shona languages to assist survivors and their families”.
The city had given its approval in July for the construction of a 42-unit residential building.
We still don’t know what caused the collapse.
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