5 dead, 49 missing in George building collapse
The death toll from the George building collapse has risen to five as rescue operations continue.
Emergency services have managed to pull 26 people from the rubble, five of whom have died, while 49 others are still unaccounted for.
A construction crew of 75 people was at the site yesterday when the multi-storey building on Victoria Street collapsed.
Mario Ferreira, spokesperson for the charity Gift of the Givers, which is assisting at the site of the incident, earlier told AFP that rescue workers had "communication with some of the people under the rubble".
The five-storey building, including an underground parking garage, 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.
"There have been people taken out, seriously injured," said Ferreira.
Rescue operations continued throughout the night with strong floodlights illuminating the cordoned-off site.
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A coordination post was set up to run the rescue operations, with numerous emergency services and about 100 personnel working in George, 400 kilometres east of Cape Town.
Emergency services said that more digger and sniffer dogs were dispatched from Cape Town.
Officials said relatives of those trapped had been asked to gather at the town hall near the site, where they would be taken care of.
"Our thoughts are with the families and all those affected who continue to wait for word of their loved ones," Mayor Leon van Wyk said in a statement.
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