A construction worker who had been buried alive was pulled from the ground after an urgent rescue.
|||Cape Town - A construction worker who had been buried alive was pulled from the ground after an urgent rescue on Monday – he was one of four workers trapped after a two-metre-high wall collapsed on them.
Two of the workers lost their lives and a third sustained serious injuries.
The tragedy and rescue unfolded at a residential home in Adam Tas Road in the suburb of Parel Vallei on Monday afternoon.
The wall separated two properties, but was higher on one side because it was built on the ground of the home higher up on the hill.
The four construction workers were on the lower one side of the wall when it collapsed around 3pm.
Keri Davids, of the Western Cape’s Emergency Medical Services, confirmed the incident and the two fatalities.
“Two adult males have been declared dead on arrival, one adult male is critical and one sustained serious injuries,” said Davids.
The latter was still buried when the Cape Argus arrived on the scene late on Monday afternoon.
After about 45 minutes – after large chunks of broken brickwork and mounds of earth had been dug away – the man was finally freed, alive.
He was airlifted to hospital by helicopter.
An update on the condition of the two injured men was not available at the time of going to print on Monday night.
Among the small army of rescue workers were trauma counsellors to assist occupants of the two homes.
Cape Argus