Cape Town: At least four people were killed and nearly 50 trapped after a high-rise building collapsed in George, South Africa.
A total of 24 people have been found and pulled from the wreckage, four of them have died, the Coast Guard said in an update early this morning, with 51 people still unaccounted for.
A 75-man construction crew was on site when the collapse occurred Monday afternoon.
Mario Ferreira, a spokesman for the charity Gift, which is helping at the scene, told AFP that rescue workers were “in contact with several people under the rubble”.
The five-storey building, which includes an underground car park, collapsed in the afternoon for unspecified reasons.
A photo shared by the municipality shows a flat construction site with dozens of emergency services.
The broken roof of the building was still visible above the ruins as high-powered lights illuminated the area.
“People were evacuated, seriously injured,” said Ferreira.
The rescue operation continued through the night with strong flashlights illuminating the trapped area.
A coordination post has been set up to handle the rescue operation, with several ambulances and around 100 staff working in George, 400km from Cape Town.
Officials said relatives of those trapped have been asked to gather at the nearest town hall where they will be taken care of.
“Our thoughts are with the families and those who continue to wait for word from their loved ones,” said Mayor Ald Van Wyk.
With a population of about 160,000, George is on the tourist trail on the southern coast of South Africa.
The municipality is run by the Democratic Alliance, the leading opposition party that governs the Western Cape.
