By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Three people have been confirmed dead so far, with several contractors been trapped after an embankment collapsed at a construction site in Ballito on Saturday morning.
IPPS Medical Rescue Services spokesperson Samantha Meyrick says, that an emergency call was received from neighbours just before 09:00 this morning.
“Workers were busy working on the construction site when a wall behind it collapsed. We were on the scene very quickly but they were already under the whole lot of sand that is here.”
“The scene is unsafe, so the rescue operations have been called off to allow safety systems to be put in place to protect rescuers,” she said.
A section of Zen Drive in the coastal hamlet has been closed.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the George Municipality announced that search and rescue efforts were now completed after an apartment construction collapsed on Victoria Street and claimed 33 lives.
The municipality said the scene has now been classified as a crime scene and has officially been handed over for a formal investigation by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Thereafter it will be handed over to the Department of Labour and Employment for their formal investigation to be conducted.
The municipality said based on information received from the contractor on site, SAPS, and other emerging external sources (witness statements), the estimated number of individuals on site during the incident amounted to approximately 81.
“We are aware that as the incident unfolded the numbers fluctuated, however, we can now officially confirm that with the rescue and recovery efforts now completed, only 62 individuals are accounted for.”