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UPDATE: Death toll rises to 17 in George building collapse
On Saturday, a 33-year-old man was found alive and successfully recovered by rescue teams.
Search and rescue operations continue at the Neo Victoria apartment building in Victoria Street in George on 8 May 2024. Picture: Gallo Images
More bodies have been retrieved from the George building collapse site on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths to 17.
Rescue operations continued into the seventh day at the site of the collapsed building.
The apartment building on Victoria Street collapsed while still under construction, leading to several fatalities and numerous people remaining unaccounted for.
George collapse death toll rises
Providing an update on Sunday morning, the George Local Municipality confirmed the death toll had gone up to 17.
The municipality has indicated that three bodies were recovered on Sunday.
Search efforts are ongoing for the 35 workers that are still trapped.
A total of 81 people when on the site at the time of the collapse, with 46 being rescued and recovered while 14 others are currently in hospital.
“The joint district operations centre adheres to a stringent double verification protocol to ensure the accuracy of the reported numbers. This is done in close collaboration with recovery teams, hospitals, and forensic services.”
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The municipality further called on professional psychosocial support practitioners “proficient in Chewa, Portuguese, and Shona languages” to assist survivors and the families.
It is understood that some of the workers are nationals from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi.
On Saturday, a worker was found alive and successfully recovered by rescue teams after more than 116 hours under the debris.
The man was identified as 33-year-old tiler, Gabriel Guambe.
According to the municipality, Guambe was recovering well and will be reunited with his family on Monday, 13 May.
George building development plans
A pre-application form for the proposed development was submitted to its town planning department by Jan Vrolijk Town Planner, acting on behalf of the owners of land, on 3 September 2020.
The building plan application was approved on 6 July 2023, and issued to the applicant, Deon van der Westhuizen Architects.
“The outcome for approval follows two prior outcomes not to approve the building plan based on details required regarding services and outstanding contributions. The plans were only approved once the building control officer was satisfied that the requirements were met,” the municipality said on Friday.
READ MORE: George building collapse: ‘Basement is largely intact,’ say rescuers in hopes of finding survivors
The development was estimated at over R39 million.
At the time of the incident, construction has progressed up to and included the concrete roof “with various other disciplines busy with service installations”.
“The municipality has no record of previous safety violations by the developer within the George municipal area.”
The Western Cape government and the Department of Employment and Labour will launch their own independent investigations into the collapse.
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