One
person confirmed dead and about 50 are feared trapped after a roof collapsed at
the construction site of a South African shopping mall.
Private ambulance
company Netcare 911 said rescue teams were at the site in the town of Tongaat.
“It is going to be a
long operation. It will take time to get to everyone,” Netcare 911 spokesperson
Chris Botha told the BBC.
Mr. Botha added the
cause of the collapse would be investigated later.
He further noted that
29 people had been taken to hospital with serious to critical injuries.
Officials said those
trapped were construction workers.
“It was a mall
building still under construction; most of those still trapped inside the building
were construction workers,” police spokesperson Mandy Govender told the AFP
news agency.
The accident happened
around 16:30 local time (14:30 GMT).
Tongaat is a small
town about 40 km (25 miles) north of Durban surrounded by sugar farms and has a
large South African Asian population.
BBC News
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