South Africa: 11 workers were found alive under the rubble after the collapse of the building in the city of George

Rescue teams in South Africa found 11 workers trapped under the five-story building under construction that collapsed on Monday in the city of George, authorities said, according to AfricaNews.

A man managed to call his wife from under the rubble, helping the rescuers locate him. Of the 11 rescued, some had their limbs trapped under the concrete and could not move. Four of the workers were in the basement of the building.

Six workers were confirmed dead and there are fears that the number of deaths could increase. Nothing is known about another 37 people undiscovered under the huge concrete slabs and metal scaffolding that collapsed in the town of George, about 400 kilometers east of Cape Town.

Another 21 workers were rescued from the scene and taken to different hospitals, at least 11 of them suffering serious injuries, the authorities said.

Colin Deiner, head of the Western Cape’s disaster management services, said the search and rescue operation would likely last at least three days.

“We will give him the absolute maximum time to see how many people we can save. It’s very, very difficult if you have to break concrete and drill close to people,” Deiner said at a press conference.

Deiner said it will take most of the day Tuesday to rescue the 11 workers with whom rescue teams have been in contact.

Deiner said it is possible there are more survivors deeper under the debris and a process of removing layers of concrete will begin after the 11 workers are removed.

More than 100 emergency personnel worked through the night, using service dogs to try to locate the workers. Large cranes and other lifting equipment were brought in to aid in the rescue effort and high beam floodlights were erected to allow search and rescue personnel to work in the dark.

Deiner said a critical part of the rescue operation was when they ordered everyone to stay quiet and stop the cars so they could hear any sound coming from under the rubble. That’s when they located the 11 workers, he said. “I could hear people from under the rubble,” Deiner said.

Several local hospitals have freed up space in their trauma units in hopes that more construction workers could be rescued.

Authorities have launched investigations to determine what caused the tragedy, and police have opened a criminal case, but there was no immediate information on why the building suddenly collapsed. Both the provincial government and the police will carry out investigations.

Authorities declined to provide information about the construction company involved, but said that under city law, the private company’s engineers were responsible for the safety of the site until it was completed, when it would be turned over to the city for inspection.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sent his condolences to the families of the victims and also called for an investigation into the cause of the collapse.