It may not have been his dream, but Gift Kasunda is happy to be working as a worker on a construction site in the South African coastal city of George. He had just graduated from high school and immigrated from Malawi last year hoping to save money to attend college, said his uncle, Gracium Msiska.
Now, his family is wondering if those hopes have been dashed. On Monday, the four-story building he was working on suddenly collapsed, killing at least eight people and leaving dozens missing, including Kasunda.
On Thursday, as the search for survivors stretched beyond 72 hours, screams for help emitted from beneath the rubble that had been signs of life in the early days of the collapse faded. But rescue workers are still desperately clearing about 3,000 tons of concrete. As of Thursday afternoon, 29 of the 37 people rescued from the wreckage were alive and 44 were still missing, according to authorities.
Investigators are just beginning to try to figure out what caused the building to collapse. For now, many relatives of the missing, like Msiska, are focused on a race against time to find survivors – enduring sleepless nights just praying for the best.
Mr Msisika said his nephew, aged 18 or 19, arrived in South Africa in October last year and settled in the same town outside George where he had lived since 2019, when Mr Msisika himself came from Malta Ravi looks for financial opportunities.
“You know, life back home is very difficult,” Msiska said by phone. “He’s trying to survive. He’s just a little boy, still chasing his dreams. We’re all happy.”
Mr Msisika said that on his way home from work on Monday, he received a call from his sister who was crying so hard that he could not understand what she was saying. He learned from others that the building where his nephew worked had collapsed.
He said he rushed to the scene and found his sister heartbroken. Many relatives of workers who had been in the building were also present, praying and being comforted by social workers.
Mr. Msiska said he was shocked when he saw the building: piles of concrete scattered on the ground.
“I can’t believe anyone is still alive,” he said.
But the first few hours were hopeful. Rescuers could hear noises beneath the water’s surface and were able to locate the victims. Some trapped workers were able to call relatives and authorities. Slowly, people were pulled out of the rubble—and alive.
A day after the collapse, Vuyokazi Fuba received a phone call that ended a terrifying and tearful 24 hours: It was her brother, Lunga Sindelo, 32, calling from the hospital to say he was collapsing survived.
She said she rushed to see him. She said he was not physically injured but was struggling mentally. He was quiet and still looked scared.
Ms. Fuba said he told her he heard a noise and then the building began to shake. The next thing he knew, all the concrete was crumbling around him and he was crying in the dark. Ms Forba said he told her a man had died in front of him.
“I’m not okay,” she remembers her brother saying. Ms Fuba said he had since traveled to Cape Town, where his other sister lives, to seek counselling.
George, with a population of nearly 300,000, sits in the shadow of the Outeniqua Mountains on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It is part of the Garden Route, a scenic road that attracts many tourists.
The collapsed building was intended to house two-bedroom apartments, each priced at about R1.7 million (about $92,000). According to local media reports. It was originally scheduled to open in August.
Western Disaster Management chief director Colin Dana said rescue efforts at the site over the past three days had been complicated by the instability of large amounts of concrete that had accumulated around lift shafts in the volcanic mound. The Cape Province is leading the rescue operation. Demolition equipment arrived at the site Thursday to help remove the concrete, he said.
Mr Dana said there were about 200 people in the search team. He said they had been using seismic equipment and search and rescue dogs to try to find victims but were no longer detecting any sounds from beneath the rubble. Dana said they spoke to a trapped worker who called from his cellphone on Monday, but they have not yet found him.
Dana said that although by international standards rescue efforts should switch from rescue mode to recovery mode after three days, he hoped some victims would survive longer.
In the meantime, Mr. Msiska said, he was fielding many calls from relatives in Malawi.
“Everyone is waiting for good news,” he said. “Now, I’m even tired of answering the phone at home because I have nothing to explain.”
Still, Mr. Msiska said he remained optimistic that good news would come.
“We still have hope,” he said, “and we trust God.”
