--- title: "Frantic search for dozens missing in George building collapse" description: "While rescue teams could communicate with 11 people buried in the wreckage, families gathered waiting for news of their loved ones were in tears, fearing the worst." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "PHOTO ESSAY" author: "Reuters" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-05-07-frantic-search-for-dozens-missing-in-george-building-collapse/" published: "2024-05-07T21:35:51" updated: "2024-05-09T13:36:14" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 368 --- # Frantic search for dozens missing in George building collapse > While rescue teams could communicate with 11 people buried in the wreckage, families gathered waiting for news of their loved ones were in tears, fearing the worst. By Reuters · Published 7 May 2024, 23:35 SAST · Updated 9 May 2024, 15:36 SAST ## Key points - Rescuers are in a race against time, using every tool at their disposal to reach trapped individuals in the aftermath of a tragic building collapse in George, with families anxiously awaiting news amid moments of both heartbreak and hope. - Rescuers in George use cranes, drills, and bare hands to reach trapped individuals after building collapse kills six. - 48 workers remain unaccounted for out of the 75 on site; cause of collapse unknown. - Families wait anxiously for news as rescue teams make contact with buried survivors. - President Ramaphosa calls for investigation as company pledges to assist in rescue efforts. ## Content Rescuers were on Tuesday using cranes, drills and their bare hands to try to reach dozens of people trapped when a multistorey building under construction in George collapsed on Monday, killing at least six people. ![A family member of one of the trapped construction workers in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/7YeVi-ZM-iEHe7g1dQEABhqQGdw=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Photo-essay-George-01.jpg) *A family member of one of the trapped construction workers in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)* ![Rescuers rush a person to medical assistance as they race to save construction workers trapped under the building that collapsed in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/BjauF1KV-RopuSRtgolDrjISQkU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Photo-essay-George-07.jpg) *Rescuers rush a person to medical assistance as they race to save construction workers trapped under the building that collapsed. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)* ![A woman is overcome at a prayer service near the site of the building that collapsed in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/7vL1RnkTx3xqnu8XmCJsDgBM07Y=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-05-07T174721Z_1402258201_RC2TL7AIUFXW_RTRMADP_3_SAFRICA-COLLAPSE-2.jpg) *A woman in tears at a prayer service near the site of the building that collapsed. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)* ![A family member of a construction worker is overcome by emotion near the site where construction workers are trapped under a building that collapsed in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/56X_hfZK1mt50JYHF_Ymt43Kbq8=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Photo-essay-George-06.jpg) *Family members of a construction worker are overcome by emotion near the disaster site. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)* Of the 75 workers who had been on the construction site, 48 remained unaccounted for on Tuesday. Authorities have made no comment about what caused it to collapse. While the rescue teams could communicate with 11 people buried in the wreckage, families gathered waiting for news of their loved ones were in tears, fearing the worst. “We treat everybody as still alive,” Colin Deiner, the Western Cape’s chief of disaster management, told a press conference. ![A rescue worker with a with a service dog at the building that collapsed in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/6W8Jl-AE6Nx4Td3rpp0eC2XdiUU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Photo-essay-George-04.jpg) *A rescuer takes a service dog to the site of the disaster. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)* ![Rescuers celebrate after saving a construction worker trapped under a building that collapsed in George. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/TMA6XMWl5UXPpjDQ-ghSpGeZE4Y=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Velani-Tamsin-George-12.jpg) *Rescuers celebrate after saving a construction worker. (Photo: Reuters / Esa Alexander)* There have been moments of hope. Onlookers clapped and cheered as rescue workers pulled a person out alive from among broken concrete slabs and twisted steel reinforcements. They made contact with other survivors as they scoured the site with sniffer dogs. “We have one area where four people are in a basement and we’ve been communicating with them, so that’s quite a big operation that’s taking most of the day to get them out,” Deiner said. President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for an investigation into the disaster. Liatel Developments, the contracted builder of the structure, said it was trying to assist those at the site of the collapsed five-storey residential building. “The investigations to follow obviously will reveal what has transpired and what has happened, but at this point in time it’s just saving as many people as we possibly can,” company director Theuns Kruger said. **DM**