UPDATE: Death toll from George building collapse rises to 14

The Western Cape government confirmed the death toll regarding the George building collapse has risen to 14.

This comes after five more bodies were recovered on Friday.

The multi-storey building located at Victoria Street, George, was under construction when it collapsed on Monday afternoon.

Rescue response to George building collapse

Addressing the media on Friday, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, indicated that search efforts are ongoing for the 39 workers that are still trapped.

“We are still looking for 39 more people so it’s going to be a long night again, but as you can hear behind me the machines are working so we will do whatever we can.”

Earlier in the day, Gerhard Otto, head of the Garden Route District Municipality’s disaster management, said some people who were recovered were not on the list provided by the contractor.

This made the authorities uncertain about the number of people who were on site at the time of the accident.

“We established that 81 people were on site. I must say that the contractor couldn’t assure us that at the time of the collapse, all 81 of these people were still on site. Remember [the incident happened] just after lunch break.”

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Otto revealed that at some point 193 people from various government departments were part of the rescue response.

“In addition to that, there’s been a lot of help and assistance from volunteers. So up till now, we can safely say that 682 people has been working on this incident.”

Watch the briefing below:

The whereabouts of the owner of the building is still unknown. “We are at an initial stage, on our part, to do investigations. When the time comes to speak to them, we will find them,” said Western Cape police commissioner, Thembisile Patekile.

Investigations

On Thursday, Western Cape’s Department of Employment and Labour safety inspector, David Esau, said unsuccessful attempts were made to subpoena the owner.

The department has since decided to take the legal route.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi confirmed that his department will launch its own investigation into the tragedy.

“The police will do their own work unhindered, but at some stage the police will hand over, once they are done with their work, to the Department of Employment and Labour, which will be able to start with its own investigation.

“Our investigation will be informed by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, of what is normal when we are faced with such incident.”

It is believed that some of the workers are Zimbabwean, Mozambican and Malawian nationals.

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