The South African government has disclosed that 11 Malawians have died following the collapse of a building in the city of George.
The announcement of the death toll comes at the end of the search for the bodies of survivors.
Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu corroborated the information, saying five women and six men died and that one is still in hospital.
“There have been many complications with identification processes as there were different nationals that were involved. Recovery efforts were still being done until yesterday morning when the government of South Africa confirmed that 11 Malawians died in the accident,” Kunkuyu said.
He said the bodies are expected to be repatriated home.
- Advertisement -
The South African government confirmed that 33 people died on site. The government said it believed 62 people were at the site at the time the building collapsed, and that about 29 people survived the accident after being rescued.
Officials said they believed that migrants from neighboring Malawi and Zimbabwe, as well as South Africans, were working at the construction site.
The cause of the building collapse has not yet been established. Investigations are under way.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the site last week and met with families of the victims.
