Survivors tell of Ngcobo building collapse terror

‘I thought I was dying, but I prayed hard, I did not want to die,’ says Ayabonga Qongqo,25, of the nightmare which left five dead, 19 injured

“I don’t know how I got out of the rubble, but I found myself crawling in the road, holding onto people. I lost consciousness and woke up in hospital.”

Noxolo Mbete, 46, of Kuntsimba in Ngcobo, a supervisor for the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) at the Ngcobo Heroes Park, was one of five people seriously injured in the Ngcobo building collapse in the town’s CBD around midday on Friday which killed five people and injured 19 others.

A corrugated veranda roof overhanging a number of small businesses — a spaza shop, hair salon, and tailor among them — collapsed, leading to the instant death of two people.

Another three succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Mbete was rushed to All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo and transferred to Nelson Mandela Hospital.

“There was a strong wind which blew away the veranda roof and the wall collapsed onto us.

“I was walking when bricks and corrugated iron fell over me, hitting me on the head.

“I am just praying I recover soon,” Mbete said from her hospital bed.

She is due to be transferred to Bedford Orthopaedic Hospital for treatment.

Premier Oscar Mabuyane, health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth and public works & infrastructure MEC Ntombovuyo Nkopane visited the victims on Saturday along with Dr AB Xuma municipality mayor Siyabulela Zangqa.

Nkopane said the condition of the building had not been great.

“We have to do an assessment of those buildings and condemn them if need be.

“There is a lot of investigation that needs to be done regarding its original plan and the additions and extensions that were later done.

“As a department we will work with the municipality on investigating the matter, and look at other buildings to prevent further incidents.”

The premier conveyed messages of condolence and wished those injured a speedy recovery.

Mabuyane said the wall that collapsed had been a disaster waiting to happen as it had been built from mud bricks and was more than 60 years old.

Mabuyane said stricter enforcment of bylaws could have prevented the disaster.

“This is a very old building made of mud brick.

“We need buildings that are in line with existing laws and regulations,” he said.

“You can see that these buildings were built a long time ago, when there were no proper laws regulating construction.

“From an engineering and technical point of view we need to ensure that there is compliance with the current laws of the country.

“It is a lesson we have learnt the hard way in almost all our towns.

“Municipalities must strengthen their bylaws and ensure that they make ongoing assessments of buildings in their towns and townships to avoid incidents of this nature.”

He said there would be an investigation to determine whether they would be dealing with an inquest or culpable homicide, or whether they would be following another route.

Zangqa said they believe they had identified the owners of the structure, but they wanted to ensure that they were talking to the legitimate owners.

“The people we have talked to are co-operating,” he said.

Mbete was one of five patients whom MEC Meth visited.

Ayabonga Qongqo, a 25-yearold tailor who runs his business under the veranda roof held up by the wall which collapsed, still can’t believe he escaped with minor injuries while people next to him died.

“I was busy sewing under the veranda roof,” he said.

“I heard rattling and suddenly there was heavy dust and debris everywhere.

“I found myself in the rubble.

“I tried to pull myself out of it. I saw one dead person next to me. I thought I was dying, but I prayed hard.

“I did not want to die. “I screamed and cried for help as I was pulling myself out.

“My mouth was full of dust and I could feel I was losing consciousness, but I soldiered on.

“I saw some people under the bricks and corrugated iron, some already dead,” he said.

“I was stopped by people who assisted me ... My sewing machine was smashed to pieces but I survived with only scratches. I could have been dead,” said Qongqo, who is originally from Kungqwala in Cofimvaba.

Two injured children, a brother and sister, aged 12 and nine, were flown with their grandmother on an emergency helicopter from All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha on Friday.

“[The girl] is still critical at the ICU,” she told the Dispatch.

“I was here the whole night and doctors and nurses worked tirelessly, doing their best to save the lives of my grandchildren. I still have hope that they will make it.”

Meth said of the 19 people injured, 14 were rushed to hospital. “Nine of those have since been discharged, while five are in All Saints Hospital, Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and Bedford Orthopaedic Hospital in Mthatha.

I screamed and cried for help as I was pulling myself out. My mouth was full of dust and I could feel I was losing consciousness, but I soldiered on

Tears streaked dust-caked faces as Gabriel Guambe was rescued alive on Saturday after being trapped for 118 hours under 3,000 tonnes of rubble in the George building collapse, one of the country’s deadliest construction disasters. Sniffer dogs identified his location.

The five-storey apartment block — which would have featured “iconic mountain views ”— collapsed on Monday with 81 workers believed to have been on site. The tragedy set in motion a rescue operation involving up to 700 people in a race against time.

On Sunday 37 people remained unaccounted for. The known death toll stood at 16. The painstaking rescue and recovery operation is expected to continue this week.

Western Cape premier Alan Winde described Saturday’s rescue as “nothing short of a miracle”.

Disaster management chief Colin Deiner said a sniffer dog led rescuers to Guambe, a tiler.

He had been trapped in a confined space without food or water.

“He was quite alert and was sounding OK. He told us that he had some weight on his legs.

“We were very scared — if we released him too quickly — so we had two surgeons come in,” he said. Rescue technicians sent down a camera and light, then gave water to Guambe.”

Rescue personnel and volunteers cheered and clapped as he was driven by ambulance to hospital.

Garden Route joint operations centre spokesperson Rowena van Wyk confirmed that Guambe, in his 30s, was from Johannesburg. Authorities contacted his father and were making arrangements for him to travel to George.

“I’m glad my son is alive,” Guambe’s father Cardaso said. “I’m looking forward to coming to George on Monday.”

Ahmed Bham, head of search and rescue for Gift of the Givers, who has been involved in 17 such missions worldwide, said the first 72 hours were considered the critical or acute phase.

“Immediately after a structural collapse or disaster, you get untrained people — those who are around when an incident occurs and are not seriously hurt — who try to help before search and rescue teams are mobilised.

“Then the rapid teams respond, relying on sight and sound with basic equipment such as cameras to detect survivors. At 24 hours to 48 hours, and up to 72 hours, chances of rescue are easier because survivors, depending on their injury, are more likely to be able to call for help and be alert,” Bham said.

Bham said after 72 hours, as the odds of survival grew longer, recovery teams were usually brought in with heavy machinery to remove rubble and sniffer dogs trained in finding cadavers were deployed.

But there were miracles, as in the case of Ena Zizi, 69, who was buried under a collapsed cathedral in quake-hit Haiti and was rescued after seven days.

“You are lying out there with concrete slabs causing a huge pressure on you and stopping blood flow for several hours or days. If there is the slightest release of pressure, the fast flow of blood could lead to rhabdomyolysis, which is a major shock and kidney failure after a crushing injury. This could be very dangerous and you have to address that before you can move the rubble and rescue the survivor.”

This was the case for

Guambe, who had to have surgeons on hand before he could be released from the rubble.

George municipality said the rescue brought “new hope, and teams have found new energy to continue with rescue and recovery operations.”

At least three independent investigations have been launched into the collapse of the building.

Questions were raised about the developer, Neotrend, after its website and social media pages went offline.

Labour minister Thulas Nxesi said officials had struggled to reach Neotrend.

But an attorney acting for the company sent a written response saying: “Our client is the developer … not the building contractor. The building contractor was appointed by our client to attend to the construction of the building …

“Our client commits to render assistance wherever possible and is committed to co-operate with all investigations,” the letter read.

The contractor, Liatel Developments, said it was deeply saddened. Company director Theuns Kruger told The Herald: “Our main priority is to assist the ongoing rescue efforts in any way possible. We are co-ordinating closely with emergency responders and authorities to provide support and resources for the rescue operations.” It has promised to assist authorities in investigating the cause of the collapse.