A man in his 20s was seriously injured when a section of a three-storey building collapsed at a construction site off Kings Highway in Pretoria, paramedics said on Wednesday.
”Paramedics arrived on scene to find that a portion of a three-storey building had collapsed in what appeared to be a hole under the building,” said Netcare 911 spokesperson Nick Dollman.
He said reports indicated that a basement was being dug under the building when it collapsed.
The incident happened at a construction site in Farmers Folly road at about 1.40pm.
”Firefighters and paramedics located one victim and initially it was unclear whether anybody else was in the collapsed structure,” he said.
Initially the man was classified as critical because he was pinned to the ground by a concrete pillar. The exact extent of his injuries could not be confirmed, but he appeared to have fractures to his pelvis and upper and lower legs.
Rescuers had to use specialist equipment to remove the obstructions.
The man was removed from the debris about 80 minutes later and taken to the Netcare Pretoria East hospital for further treatment.
No one else was injured. — Sapa