George building collapse: death toll rises as 44 workers still unaccounted for

The George municipality has announced that nine people have now been declared deceased following a building collapse on Monday.

A hospitalised red patient was declared deceased on Friday.

ALSO READ: George building collapse: Number of workers present at time of incident revised to 81

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, six had sustained life-threatening injuries, while seven had sustained minor injuries.

44 remain unaccounted for.

The rescue operation has reached now reached 90 hours.

“Big earth-moving machinery has arrived last night which includes two five ton excavators, three 20-ton excavators with hammers and buckets, and a three cube front-end loader, as well as trucks for extraction and clearing,” said the George municipality.

ALSO READ: George building collapse: Eighth worker dies

“The rescue operation continues to be a multi-agency approach, involving local excavation contractors and the District Roads Engineer.

“Despite the introduction of large machinery, rescue techniques will still be applied meticulously and sensitively by the highly skilled and experienced disaster management team.”

The site now officially been declared a crime scene.

George building collapse: number revised

On Thursday, the George municipality revised the number of workers who were present at the time of the incident on Monday.

According to the George Municipality, the number of workers present on site was 81, previously reported to be 75.

ALSO READ: George building collapse: We have to find out why this happened, says Alan Winde

“This follows intensive discussions and scrutinisation of the safety records with the responsible contractors. The contractor has now confirmed that the number of workers on site at the time of collapse was 81.”

The search for the remaining 44 continues with the help of the K-9 unit.

Western Cape premier Alan Winde has thanked those who have been assisting in the emergency response to the George building collapse.

A multi-disciplinary rescue team of more than 200 emergency services staff has been at the site since Monday.

“Our teams on the ground are working tirelessly to rescue the remaining individuals. I cannot express the emotions I felt when the site would suddenly go completely quiet in the hope that our teams might be close to locating another survivor.

ALSO READ: George building collapse: Six dead, dozens still trapped under rubble

“My heart goes out to the families of the deceased. I share your pain. We will do everything we can to ensure we determine the exact cause of this incident.”