TV programme channels Bluff homeowner to safety
Kruger believes the storm that happened on Tuesday, 10 October was probably the cause of the collapse.
IF not for an interesting TV programme, the Bluff home owner who lost the back of his double storey house yesterday morning, 17 October would have been standing in that section of his house when it collapsed.
READ: Balcony collapses at Bluff seaside home a week after #DurbanStorm
The still shocked home owner, Dana Kruger said: “It’s a sound that will ring in my ears forever.”
He had meant to go out onto the balcony with his puppies but changed his mind at the last minute to finish watching a TV show. This last-minute change of mind helped him escape serious injury or worse when his balcony suddenly collapsed, taking with it two rooms below. “It was a thundering sound. Luckily our domestic worker was out of the kitchen in the room below and two of my puppies were with me in the TV room when it happened,” he said.
His other two German Shepherd puppies who were on the balcony were caught in the ruins of the collapsing structure. “Thanks to the SAPS search and rescue, they dug my puppies out from the rubble and they were unharmed,” he added.
Kruger believes the storm that happened on Tuesday, 10 October was probably the cause of the collapse. “That day we were flooded out. The drains outside our property were blocked with sand. I thought there was nothing wrong with the slope down to the sea, because there is dense bush so you can’t really see what is going on underneath,” said Kruger.
The collapse has added financial strain onto the Kruger family, as they lost some furniture along with their balcony and the two rooms below. “I don’t know how we will handle this but I must thank the community for all their support. I have lost everything and we are trying to salvage what we can but I stay positive because of all the love and care that people have shown us,” he said.
He also thanked COP member and Metro Police’s Shaun Jooste and Louis van Ryneveld, COP control room for broadcasting their distress call, Rake Jeeves, the fire department, paramedics and his neighbours who provided them with support. “It goes to show, there are still caring people in this world,” he said.
