George building collapse: ‘Basement is largely intact,’ say rescuers in hopes of finding survivors

Western Cape Disaster Management chief director Colin Deiner says the basement of the collapsed George apartment building is “largely intact”.

Deiner told the SABC News that the rescue teams were now in the process of delayering the building to find an opening to the basement.

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“Specialised equipment will allow us to pick up more of the concrete at the back of the building,” he said.

“The rescue teams found the basement to be intact. But we couldn’t get through to the main part of the basement because of the collapse that happened earlier.

“The concrete slabs were stopping us from getting through to the area. We want to lift all these slabs so we can get to the basement and even do a search there for the remaining survivors.

“The basement took a hit on the side, but the middle seems to be okay.”

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The George municipality said the stability of the site forced the rescue teams to switch to using heavy duty demolition equipment.

“The stability of the site is a threat to the safety of emergency personnel who have focused their efforts for the past 90 hours on rescue of as many trapped patients as is possible. The decision to switch to using heavy duty demolition equipment is not taken lightly.

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“The demolition company has created a safe path to drive on over the site, filling in voids that have been thoroughly checked for any entrapped victims. Rescue techniques continue to be applied meticulously and sensitively at each phase.”

George building collapse site ‘no-fly zone’

Following reports of a private drone flying over the rescue zone at Victoria Street on Thursday, the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has declared the incident site at Victoria Street a no-fly zone.

“This restriction will be strictly enforced, and any individuals found violating it will be subject to criminal prosecution,” said the George municipality on Friday.

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Since the building collapse on Monday, the George municipality has retrieved 37 workers, with nine of those deceased.

According to the municipality, 15 of the workers were in critical condition, while six had sustained life-threatening injuries. Seven had sustained minor injuries.

44 remain unaccounted for.

The George Municipality also revised the number of workers present on site to 81. It was previously reported to be 75.

“The rescue operation continues to be a multi-agency approach. It involves local excavation contractors, the district roads engineer and a large-scale demolition company.

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“Rescue techniques will still be applied meticulously and sensitively by the highly skilled and experienced disaster management team.”