Five people have died and 49 are unaccounted for after a multi-story building collapsed Monday afternoon in the South African city of George, officials said Tuesday.
Rescue missions remain underway, and 26 people have been removed from the rubble since the building collapsed in the Western cape province around 2 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) on Monday, George Municipality said in a statement.
“Three teams of rescue personnel are currently working on three different areas within the site of the collapsed building,” the statement said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa offered his condolences in a statement from his office Tuesday, saying, “The President’s thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones as well as the families of close to 50 people who are trapped in the rubble.”
Ramaphosa also called for an investigation into how the incident happened, to “bring closure to the community and prevent a repeat of this disaster.” the statement said.