The death toll of Malawians in the South African building collapse has risen from two to nine, with 15 suspected Malawians still missing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
So far, 33 people have been confirmed dead out of the 81 people who are reported to have been at the construction site.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 people are still buried under the rubble of the collapsed five-storey building.
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Spokesperson for the ministry, Charles Nkhalamba, said Thursday that there were 34 Malawians at the site of the accident, 11 of whom were rescued while one is still hospitalised.
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“We have not yet gotten finer details pertaining to the work that they were doing at the construction site but the sketchy information that is coming is that some of the Malawians were not coming from that town, George. They were taken from Johannesburg to do some electrical installation works and other work not related to the construction itself. So, most [of the people] could not be recognised by Malawians living in George,” he said.
Nkhalamba also disclosed that there is a pathologist who has been engaged to conclude the identification process of the deceased.
“Out of the nine identified Malawians, only five have gone through the pathologist and [as for] the other four, [pathology work] will be done later,” he said, adding that the Malawi Government is, through its mission, engaging the South African government on issues such as repatriation of the dead bodies and support to the survivors.
“This is because the expectation is that the cost of this is supposed to be borne by the contractor but where this is not possible, then it will be an arrangement that will be done between the governments of Malawi and South Africa,” he said.
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It is expected that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit the site Friday.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has encouraged Malawians whose relatives were involved in the accident to touch base with Malawi’s High Commission in Pretoria and its consular in Johannesburg for further details.
It is not yet clear why the building, which is located near the city centre, suddenly collapsed as investigations have been launched.
