/ 19 November 2013

Workers trapped under roof of collapsed Tongaat mall

Ethekwini fire department chief Mark te Water confirmed a building had collapsed in the area.
Ethekwini fire department chief Mark te Water confirmed a building had collapsed in the area. (Twitter picture from eNCA)

About 50 workers are feared trapped under rubble after the roof of a shopping mall collapsed in Tongaat, north of Durban, on Tuesday, paramedics said.

The shopping mall was under construction, Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said. "We have an unconfirmed number of 50 people [trapped inside]. It is a shopping mall which was under construction," he said.

Ethekwini fire department chief Mark te Water confirmed a building had collapsed in the area. Workmen were trapped and his department had dispatched units to the scene, Te Water said. An eyewitness confirmed the incident to eNCA.com. The anonymous source said it appeared as though "the back wall of the mall collapsed."

ER24 Durban tweeted:

ENCA reported that at completion, the mall is expected to be at least 15 000 square metres and will house 40 retail stores. It is due to open in April 2014. 

Intended key tenants were noted to include Spar, Clicks, Pep, Ackermans, Jet and Mr Price, as well as Absa Bank and Standard Bank. – Sapa, eNCA