South Africa: Man rescued from collapsed building in George after five days

Rescuers have been using cranes, drills and their bare hands to try to reach those trapped on the construction site.

Saturday 11 May 2024 18:02, UK

A man has been rescued from a collapsed building in South Africa after five days trapped in the rubble.

His recovery was described as "nothing short of a miracle" by Western Cape premier Alan Winde.

When the five-storey structure in the city of George collapsed on Monday there were 81 people on the construction site.

Of those, 13 have been confirmed dead, 29 have survived and 39 remain unaccounted for, officials said.

Rescuers have been using cranes, drills and their bare hands to try to reach those trapped on South Africa's southern coast.

In a post on X containing video footage of the survivor being pulled from the wreckage, Mr Winde said the man had been "successfully extracted from the debris after more than 116 hours".

He added: "This is nothing short of a miracle - thank you to all the search and rescue teams!"

Earlier in the week, more than 100 emergency staff and other responders worked through the night using sniffer dogs and spotlights.

There were fears huge slabs of concrete had fallen on to construction workers, and large cranes and other heavy lifting equipment were brought in to remove some of the debris.

Pictures from a drone camera showed a flattened construction site, with parts of the building's roof lying on top of the rubble.

South Africa: Man rescued from collapsed building in George after five days

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