Hopes are fading for 44 workers still missing days after South Africa building collapse; 9 are dead

Cape Town, South Africa — Hope was fading Friday for 44 construction workers buried for days in the rubble of a collapsed building in South Africa, and authorities said rescuers now face the challenge of moving thousands of tons of concrete with heavy machinery to see Yes there are more. survivors.

The death toll rose to nine after a worker who was in critical condition died in the hospital, authorities said.

Of the 28 workers rescued from the site, 21 were in critical condition or had life-threatening injuries after Monday’s collapse of the five-story apartment complex that was under construction.

Fearing that the final death toll could exceed 50, authorities in the town of George, on South Africa’s southern coast, said large earth-moving equipment had arrived and rescuers were removing huge slabs. of concrete and rubble to go deeper into the rubble.

City authorities said it was still a rescue operation rather than a recovery operation, but no survivors have been located or removed since Wednesday.

“Despite the introduction of large machinery, rescue techniques will continue to be applied meticulously and sensitively by a highly trained and experienced disaster management team,” the city said in a statement.

He also revised the number of missing from 38 to 44 after determining that there were more construction workers at the site than previously thought. New information provided by the construction company showed that there were 81 workers when the building collapsed, not 75 as authorities had initially announced, he said.

More than 600 people are taking part in the rescue operation, many of them brought from nearby towns and cities. George, which is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town, is a small town known as a holiday and golf destination.

Authorities say multiple investigations into the cause of the collapse are underway, including by police, the provincial government and the national department of labor.

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