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GEORGE NEWS AND VIDEOS -National Police Minister Bheki Cele has responded to the frustrations of family members of the people who died on the Victoria Street disaster site and those still to be retrieved from the rubble.
Cele visited the site earlier this afternoon and also interacted with the families in the George Civic Hall, expressing his sympathy and giving the assurance that everything is being done to retrieve their loved ones as soon as possible.
One woman who is waiting for information on her boyfriend, expressed her agony and a man said they are told the number of people retrieved who are deceased, but it is taking too long for them to be identified.
Cele said explained that in cases where identification has not been done, the necessary documentation is missing because many of the people on the construction site were seemingly undocumented. He said the Labour Department must also provide information for those people who are indeed documented.
The developer and contractor as well as six other contractors subcontracted by the main company must furthermore help the police to find out who these people are. Cele said the police are working with them to obtain the information, but it is not forthcoming. ”Not only that - I’ve been told that they are not showing their faces to the people that are there (families in the George Civic Hall).”
The police minister addressing members of the rescue teams. Photo: Alida De Beer
He said he found it inhumane that the contractor had not visited the families to at least sympathise with them. “I’ve got a feeling there is not much cooperation in the matter. For now, everybody should be working together.”
He said however, that it should be remembered that police are instructed by the Constitution to enforce the law. If there is no cooperation, the police will have to “walk the extra-legal mile”.
He gave the assurance that the police were following the matter and had sent its deputy national commissioner to be on the ground in George.
Seven days into the rescue and recovery efforts at the site of the collapsed building at 75 Victoria Street operations are still ongoing. As of 15:00 on 12 May 2024, marking the 145th hour of operations, the confirmed statistics are as follows:
- Total estimated individuals on-site during the incident: 81
- Rescued and recovered: 48
- Of which deceased: 19
- Currently hospitalized: 14
- Unaccounted for: 33
VIDEO: National Police Minister Bheki Cele has responds on the Victoria street building disaster site (Video: Alida De Beer).
VIDEO: Minister Bheki Cele responds to family members of the Victoria street building disaster (Video: Alida De Beer).
VIDEO: A woman shares her agony about not receiving any word about her boyfriend. (Video: Alida De Beer).
VIDEO: The long waiting times for the deceased to be identified are causing emotional pain (Video: Alida De Beer).
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