George building collapse: 7 deceased, 36 retrieved

As at 05:33 this morning, seven people have been declared deceased and 36 have been retrieved from the rubble of the George Neo Victoria multi-storey apartment block in Victoria Street.

Thirty-nine people are still unaccounted for.

Rescue operations again continued throughout the night, with more than 200 emergency services workers on-site.

Seventy-five construction workers were present on the site at the time of the collapse, which occurred at 14:09 on Monday.

As of 05:58 this morning, the rescue operation was approaching 39 hours.

Authorities will issue another update at 09:00.

George Herald has been at the scene since the building collapsed.

Below is a compilation of the highs and lows of last night’s rescue operation.

Another person rescued

Another person stuck under the rubble for more than 36 hours was rescued. This was the fourth person to be rescued since yesterday morning.

Goodwill abounds

Good Samaritans continue to rally to support rescue workers, families and everyone involved in the rescue efforts. In the video below, MMC for Community Safety Marais Kruger thanked everyone for their assistance.

In the video below, Western Cape head of disaster Colin Deiner speaks to George Herald about yesterday’s successes.

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Sarza heads to George

Servaas de Kock, CEO of Group Editors, was on the same flight from Johannesburg as a team of rescuers on their way to assist with the rescue effort. Western Cape Disaster Management requested the 10 interprovincial Search and Rescue South Africa (Sarza) representatives – one surgeon and nine rescuers – to come and assist. Sarza’s mission is to provide a competent, efficient volunteer emergency search and rescue service dedicated to saving human lives. De Kock spoke to one of their members, Iain. Video: Servaas de Kock.

The Sarza rescue team was applauded by passengers as they left the airplane on arrival at George Airport. Video: Servaas de Kock.