Death and injury following building disaster
What must be one of the greatest human tragedies in the history of George began unfolding at 75 Victoria Street from Monday 6 May at 14:09 when the multi-storey Neo Victoria apartment building, which was still under construction, imploded in the blink of an eye - 75 construction workers were under metres of rubble and tons of concrete in an instant. By Wednesday afternoon (at the time of going to print at 12:00) 36 people have been retrieved of whom 7 were declared deceased, 16 were in a critical condition, 6 had life-threatening injuries and 7 minor injuries. A total of 39 were still unaccounted for.
By this afternoon, Thursday 9 May, a critical point will have been reached when 72 hours have lapsed since the collapse and the chance of finding people alive under the rubble, becomes slim.
The implosion set off a race against time to save lives in a situation that seemed near impossible. The first emergency call was received minutes after the building tumbled down (at 14:14) and Disaster Services teams from George and the Garden Route District Municipality as well as SAPS members were dispatched to begin with a mammoth rescue operation. Garden Route District Municipality established a joint operations centre (JOC).
Before midnight on Monday, rescue teams from the City of Cape Town, Breede Valley Disaster Services, Overstrand and Western Cape Provincial Disaster Services started arriving. By that time, the local rescue teams had managed to retrieve 23 people from under the rubble, two of whom were declared deceased.
By Tuesday the emergency staff on site had increased to more than 200, with members of Search and Rescue South Africa (Sarza) among them. SAPS sniffer dogs were also brought in, as were excavators and specialised rescue equipment from Mossel Bay and Cape Town.
An agonising and uncertain wait began for relatives and loved ones of the trapped workers who were being accommodated in the banqueting hall of the George Civic Centre. Volunteer counsellors and social workers from the Department of Social Services and Correctional Services are providing support at the hall.
As the hours crept by, rescue workers pressed on, ignoring fatigue, stretched to physical and emotional limits by a mammoth, but delicate task of working through piles of concrete and rubble to reach trapped workers. Chief director for Western Cape Provincial Disaster Services Colin Deiner explained that their starting point was identifying pockets of live workers who could be heard from underneath the rubble. Efforts to release them were concentrated in those spots. Some of the trapped individuals were able to communicate with the outside world via cellphone, others would cry from beneath or tap on the concrete in response
to rescue workers' shouts. The dogs then come in to verify if there is someone before high-tech equipment is used to pinpoint their position.
With every extraction of a live person comes an intense emotional relief after indescribable hours of tension and at times spontaneous clapping of hands would follow.
Premier in George
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Local Government and Development
Planning MEC Anton Bredell had arrived on Monday night to witness the rescue operations first-hand. Winde on Tuesday said no stone would be left unturned to determine the cause of the collapse.
Donations and voluntary assistance
Ongoing public support has been received through generous donations and many volunteers came forward to assist at the tent where eats and refreshments were made available for rescue teams.
The non-profit organisations, Gift of the Givers and Love George, have been on site since Monday to set up a point where donations could be dropped. A prayer vigil was also held during the week.
George Mayor Leon Van Wyk expressed his sincere condolences on behalf of George Council and the municipal administration to the family and colleagues of the deceased.
"Our thoughts are with the families and all those affected who continue to wait on word of their loved ones."