A multi-storey building under construction in South Africa’s coastal city of George collapsed on Monday killing at least one man and trapping 47 workers in the rubble, police said.
A construction crew of 70 people were on the site at the time of the collapse, city spokeswoman Chantel Edwards said.
“Twenty-two patients have been retrieved and sent to hospitals throughout the province,” she added.
“An inquest docket was opened after the body of a man was retrieved from the debris,” police officer Christopher Spies said in a statement.
Mario Ferreira, spokesperson for the charity Gift of the Givers assisting on the site of the incident, told AFP that rescue workers had “communication with some of the people under the rubble”.
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The five-storey building, including an underground parking lot, collapsed in the early afternoon, for reasons still undetermined.
Photographs shared by the municipality showed a flattened construction site with multiple rescue services present.
The building’s broken roof was still clearly visible atop the pile of rubble as high-powered lights lit up the site.
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“There have been people taken out, seriously injured,” said Ferreira.
Rescue operations continued into the evening at the site which had been cordoned off.
A coordination post was set up to run the rescue operations with numerous emergency services and about 80 personnel in attendance at George, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Cape Town.
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More digger and sniffer dogs were dispatched from Cape Town, emergency services said.
Officials said relatives of those trapped had been asked to gather at the town hall, which is close to the site, and would be taken care of.
George, which has a population of about 160,000, lies on the tourist trail along the nation’s southern coastline.
The town hall is run by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the leading opposition party which also controls the Western Cape province.
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