Bodies of KZN structural collapse victims recovered

The body of a 59-year-old woman and her 16-year-old son who were killed after a retaining wall collapsed onto the roof of their house were recovered from their home on Friday afternoon.

Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) said it was alerted to the structural collapse by the public on Thursday night.

Rusa said a large portion of the wall crashed through the home’s roof, crushing the teen while he was in his bed. The collapse trapped the mother in her bedroom. 

The teenager’s older brother told Rusa he was in the home at the time of the collapse, but managed to escape unscathed. 

He said he heard his mother crying before she fell silent. 

Rescuers were unable to recover the bodies due to the building being unstable on Thursday. An Excavator and a Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB) were utilised to remove large slabs of the broken wall which crushed the woman and her teenage son.

Firemen from the Ethekwini Fire Department and Officers from the SAPS Search & Rescue Unit entered the building and extricated the two bodies.