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Picture Courtesy: (George Municipality via Facebook) Disaster and emergency personnel continue with their efforts to rescue workers that remain trapped following the collapse of the multi-story apartment building on Monday afternoon, May 6, in George, Western Cape.
(The Post News)– Six more bodies have been retrieved from the rubble at the site of the collapsed multi-story apartment building in George, Western Cape, increasing the death toll to 33. The building, which was still under construction, collapsed on Monday afternoon, May 6.
There were about 81 construction workers present on site when the building collapsed, and emergency personnel have been working tirelessly hand in hand with disaster management officials to try and rescue those who are still trapped underneath the rubble. George Municipality confirmed that the search and rescue team will carry on with its efforts to rescue those who are still trapped and said that it is proactively coming up with strategies to speed up the process of identifying the deceased.
According to the municipality, the Forensic Pathology Service and the Police Service are using fingerprinting, DNA matching, pictures of unique marks like tatoos or permanent scars, as well as clothing items as methods of identifying the deceased.
Moreover, the municipality confirmed that six bodies have been positively identified; however, it is having challenges with regards to obtaining the correct names of those who are deceased and those who are still missing. To allow the accurate collection of information and the accuracy of document compilation by the Department of Social Development, those who have lost contact with their loved ones are urged to visit the George Civic Center.
On Tuesday afternoon, a delegation led by the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zikalala, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of International Affairs, Alvin Botas, visited the site of the collapsed building and met with the families of those who remain unaccounted for. Within the delegation were experts from the Engineering Council of South Africa and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). Zikalala said that the experts will also assist in investigating the cause of the building collapsing.
According to Zikalala, construction developments that fall under the public sector are regulated by the CIDB, and these regulations do not permit the government to regulate the private sector. A CIDB amendment bill has been initiated to close the gap between the private and public sectors. Zikalala said that the bill will ensure that the compliance and standards of both of these sectors are similar.
It is alleged that the contactors and developers of the building have not met or contacted the families of the victims to this day. Zikalala called them out for these allegations; he said they are wrong, and they ought to be morally obligated to stand with the families and show them support. He also conveyed his gratitude to all the government and non-government organizations that have shown support for the families.
“The companies that are involved, and the developer in particular, carry the moral obligation to support the affected families,” he said. It was reported that there was an issue of a language barrier between those affected by the incident and psychosocial support practitioners, as most victims and their families are from Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique.
George Municipality has confirmed that they now have enough practitioners available on site who are fluent in Chewa, Shona, and Portuguese to assist with the emotional, social, and overall mental needs of all those who have been affected by the incident.As of now, the search and rescue team has recovered 62 workers; out of the 62 workers, 33 have died, 12 are currently hospitalized, and 19 remain missing.
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