Four dead, dozens trapped in building collapse in South Africa

By Shafiek Tassiem

GEORGE, South Africa (Reuters) – Rescue workers searched through the rubble of a multi-story building collapse in the South African city of George early on Tuesday, leaving four people dead and dozens still trapped.

Twenty-four construction workers who were at the site of the unfinished building at the time of the collapse have so far been removed from the rubble, while 51 remain missing, the municipality of George, a coastal town east of Cape Town, said in a statement.

Four of those rescued were declared dead at 5:15 a.m. (0315 GMT), it said.

A drone shot of the construction site showed rescue workers clearing rubble to reach those still beneath the rubble.

“We’re focusing on the areas … where we’ve actually heard people,” Colin Diener, head of disaster management for the Western Cape province, told reporters at the scene.

“It’s going to get more and more difficult every day,” he said.

CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed a cloud of dust as the building collapsed on Monday afternoon.

(Reporting by Shafiek Tassiem and Esa Alexander in George, additional reporting by Wendell Roelf in Cape Town, writing by Bhargav Acharya. Editing by Gerry Doyle)