Trapped under the rubble of a five-story apartment building that collapsed in the coastal town of George, South Africa, electrician Delvin Safers was trapped next to the still, silent body of his colleague.
He was dead.
Mr Safers was terrified. But most of all, at that moment, he was sad for the man he had become friends with after working together for seven months building a luxury apartment building in a town known as the picturesque Garden Route.
The apartments overlooking the mountain were now a pile of rubble, twisted metal reinforcements and shattered scaffolding, burying dozens of people who worked there.
Mr Safers remembered that his phone was in his pocket and with his arm free he made the first call – a last word to his family as he was convinced he would not survive.
“I wanted to say goodbye because I was in prison and I thought it was all over for me,” the 29-year-old told the BBC from his home in Mossel Bay, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of George. recovering, but appears exhausted.
Just minutes before his accidental burial last Monday afternoon, he was discussing an electrical problem with his colleague on the third floor when, without any sound or warning, the floor collapsed beneath them.
“I can see that split second when we fell because I still remember looking at [my colleague] when I was still falling.”
After the initial shock, Safers became more hopeful that he would survive.
“I didn’t panic. For the next 15 hours, I was calm. I was waiting there – hoping and hoping and praying that someone would find us.”
Above ground, a complex rescue operation was underway overnight, involving heavy earthmoving machines, drills and excavators.
Dozens of people were also removing the rubble manually, in a slow process. Many of those who were rescued first worked on the upper floors.
But after a while Mr. Safers’ courage gave way, and the hope he felt turned to despair. He was shaking uncontrollably, his legs were shaking with pain, his back was also hurting and he was beginning to doubt that he would make it out alive.
The voice notes he sent to his girlfriend and son, two-year-old Zyar, became increasingly desperate.
Breathing heavily and cursing in pain, he told them, “I don’t think I can make it.”
He could hear that the rescue team was close, but each time they seemed to get closer, hours passed and nothing happened and it all seemed too much, he says.
“I was in a very small space… I was lying on pieces of concrete, broken pieces of concrete for 28 hours.
“I couldn’t move. I could only lie on my back or side. It was terrible, it was painful, it was cold and dark… very dark – it was hell.”
It was thinking about his son who kept him fighting to stay alive.
He scrolled through the photos he had of Zyar and remembered the last time he saw him. Mr Safers’ mother also sent him a recent photo of her son to keep him in high spirits.
After eight hours of working closely with him, the rescue team managed to free one of his colleagues.
“I couldn’t breathe at the time. I knew I had to be strong and they were here now and they would get me out of there,” he says.
But along with the relief, there were also recurring feelings of guilt and sadness because many people were still trapped inside – and some had died. The death toll now stands at 32.
Finally, after more than 28 hours under the rubble, Mr. Safers was saved.
“I was neither thirsty nor hungry. When I was offered water, I accepted, but my body just didn’t feel like eating or drinking.
He was taken to hospital to receive treatment for a cut to his head and a fractured rib.
He still can’t believe how he escaped with so few injuries and was released from hospital after just two days.
“It’s incredible. I don’t know how this happened… I’m relieved, I don’t know how it’s possible [to get away with] Minimal injuries, but I did it.”
He is still obviously traumatized and desperately worried about all those he worked with who remain imprisoned after more than a week. There are 20 people missing.
Questions now turn to the cause of the crash and authorities say an investigation is ongoing.
Safers says he doesn’t recall any indication that anything might be wrong, but thinks that if it turns out that shortcuts were taken in construction, then people “should be held responsible for the lives lost and the people who will never be able to work or walk.” again”.
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