Africa-Press – Eswatini. Two people died on the spot, while three others succumbed to their injuries while they were receiving treatment in hospital after a building (VW Specialists Garage), which was still under construction collapsed, by curving inwards and falling on top of them. The horrifying incident took place at New Village, in the Manzini Region yesterday afternoon around 2pm. The affected people include some of the builders, mechanics and customers.
It is worth noting that some vehicles were also damaged in the process and some of the walls also fell.
According to a source close to the matter, the garage was allegedly operating while the building was still under construction. He alleged that when the incident happened there were mechanics, builders and customers who had brought their vehicles to be fixed. A source from the area who witnessed the incident alleged that the structure was being built to be a garage that specialised in fixing Volkswagen cars and was to be a double-storey building.
Collapsed
The builders had allegedly just finished building a concrete slab that would separate the two floors. He alleged that yesterday the builders had planned to remove the pillars which supported the concrete slab and when they were doing so, it collapsed. According to the analysis of the source and some of the people who are neighbours to the garage, the pillars were allegedly removed prematurely, as the concrete slab was purportedly constructed about a fortnight ago. They believed that it was early to remove the pillars, as the concrete slab had not dried up well.
One of the incident survivors, who escaped unhurt, said they were six in the building when the incident happened. The survivor said he was a customer of the garage since it was operating opposite Manzini Central Galp Filling Station and had gone there to fix his car. He alleged that while they were inside the building sharing a light moment with the mechanics and builders, he noticed that the former was attempting to remove some of the pillars which were used to support the concrete slab to open space for more cars to park. “Within a twinkle of an eye, I heard a cracking sound, which was followed by a loud bang. When I turned towards the direction of where the sound was coming from, I saw the concrete slab collapsing and managed to jump out of the building and bolt,” the survivor said.
Traumatised
The man, who was still visibly traumatised, as his voice was unsteady, said he believes he managed to survive unhurt because he was seated by a wall near the entrance of the garage. He said the minute he discovered that no one was following him from the structure; it became clear to him that the others were hurt by the concrete slap. On the other hand, other witnesses, who were found at the scene, said the only thing that attracted them to the scene was the loud banging sound and they were shocked when they found that the concrete slab had curved inwards and fell on top of the people who were working there (mechanics and builders).
Responded
They said some of them called the Eswatini National Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (ENFRES) personnel, while others contacted the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), who responded promptly to the call. They said an excavator was brought to try to remove the debris of the concrete slab and wall from the building to retrieve the people who were trapped inside.They said after about 30 minutes of hard work from ENFRES personnel and the police officers, who were assisted by some members of the community, the police managed to retrieve three of the people who were then rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Thereafter, they said the fire personnel and police officers, who were assisted by the excavator, took another half an hour trying to find the other two people, whom they found dead under the debris of the concrete slab. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that a structure which was under construction collapsed at New Village yesterday afternoon.She said five people; four men and a woman died in the process and they were confirmed dead by medical practitioners at the hospital.
Futile
Meanwhile, efforts to get a comment from ENFRES Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mandla Dlamini and the owner of the garage proved to be futile and both their MTN Eswatini and Eswatini Mobile numbers were not available on the network yesterday afternoon. The last calls were at 8:31pm.
It is worth noting that in an almost similar incident, in February 2023 when the country received heavy rains, a father of two was crushed to death after his house collapsed. The incident took place in an area known as Tebetebe near Ngowane at Maguga.
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