FULL STORY: Five injured in Charlotte Maxeke roof collapse
PARKTOWN – Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital's roof collapsed and injures several people.
PARKTOWN – A section of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital’s roof collapsed, but could the crisis have been averted?
On 2 March the academic hospital had a section of it’s roof collapse on five people – two of which were patients who sustained injuries, another two were construction workers and one was a staff member.
According to tweets the structure had collapsed while builders were working on the roof and sealing it.
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health and Member of Provincial Legislature, Jack Bloom, who was at the scene of the collapse said emergency personnel had at the time pulled four people out of the rubble.
“While emergency services were looking for more people others were calmly walking out of the building.”
He added that staff had constantly warned of the hospitals building issues, dating back years. He also said that he had even taken pictures of leaks and points of major concern regarding the structural integrity of the building.
“Over the years some parts of the building looked worrisome.”
Northcliff Melville Times had previously reported on the safety of Charlotte Maxele in 2015 after news that a 2012 report on structural defects at the X-ray department recommended that it should be evacuated. The reported stated the structural defects on the fifth floor of the building would need R50 million worth of urgent repairs.
The reported stated that the structural defects on the fifth floor of the building would need R50 million worth of urgent repairs.
READ: Charlotte Maxeke leak woes soon to be a thing of the past
In a statement, Gauteng Department of Health said the collapse took place in the passage near the maternity department on Hospital Street.
“At this stage we can neither confirm the number of injuries nor what caused the collapse,” said the statement. They added that they would update the public continuously as they got more information on the incident.
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