Additional survivor located as casualties surge to 32 in South Africa building collapse

Death toll has skyrocketed to 32 in the South African building collapse as rescue teams continue to dig through the rubbles in search for more survivors. Meanwhile, authorities have opened multiple investigations into the cause of the building collapse, including the probe of the contractor in charge…

Rescue efforts to locate more survivors in South Africa continue for another day as the death toll rose to 32, barely a week after the collapse of an apartment building that was under construction.

Hopes were resurrected over the weekend when one of the construction workers was found alive after spending six days without food and water in the rubble of the building in the city of George on the country’s south coast.

But the death toll also continued to rise, and authorities reported that at least 11 more bodies were recovered from the debris on Monday.

Reports say about 20 additional workers are still missing, raising the possibility that the death toll could eventually climb above 50 in one of South Africa’s deadliest building collapses.

Many of the workers, according to officials, were foreign nationals from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, and authorities were calling for translators to help communicate with survivors.

No fewer than 600 emergency services and other personnel have been deployed in the search for survivors in the wreckage of the uncompleted five-story building, which went down on May 6.

Authorities have commenced different investigations into the cause of the building collapse, including by the police, who declared the site a crime scene.

The construction company in charge of the collapsed structure is also being probed to see if it adhered to proper safety guidelines.