Africa-Press – Eswatini. Residents of New Village and surroundings were left reeling from shock following the death of five people who were crushed by a wall that collapsed from an unfinished building.
This spine-chilling incident happed at New Village yesterday at around 2pm.
It was gathered that the jaw-dropping accident, which saw six people being buried in debris after the building they were occupying collapsed, occurred at an automobile shop, affectionately known as a garage, which was still under construction.
It was established that the garage was operating while the construction continued as there were constructors on site when the accident happened.
According to bystanders, the accident occurred after the constructors of the garage, which operated under the style name VW Doctors, as it specialised in fixing Volkswagen cars, tried to remove pillars which supported what was supposed to be a double-storey building.
Little did they know that it would collapse. It is alleged that the pillars were removed prematurely as they had been erected about two weeks ago.
The five people who were confirmed dead included those who had visited the garage to fix their cars.
Also, an undisclosed number of cars were severely damaged as the building collapsed on top of them.
Three of the victims, who were badly injured, were rushed to hospital, where they died while undergoing treatment.
The three victims were retrieved from the building withing a space of 30 minutes.
The other two, who died on the spot, were salvaged after a period of about three hours. They were retrieved by poilce in collaboration with the Eswatini Fire and Emergency Services personnel using excavators.
According to Siboniso Ndwandwe who escaped the accident unharmed, six people, himself included, had occupied the building when the accident occurred.
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Ndwandwe said he had visited the garage to service his motor vehicle. He said while they were seated, some of the constructors attempted to remove the support pillars from the building in a bid to make room for more cars. He said soon after they had removed the pillars, he heard a loud bang, followed by a reinforced concrete collapsing right before his eyes.
He narrated that he ran for his dear life. Ndwandwe, who was clearly traumatised, said the reason he managed to escape unhurt was because he was seated by the entrance of the garage.
“I managed to bolt out before it was too late.
However, the same could not be said about the others as they were buried by the debris of the building until two of them suffocated to death, while the other three died in hospital,” he narrated.
Renald Simelane, one of the eye witnesses, said he was seated in his workshop adjacent to the garage when his attention was drawn by the disturbing sound of the building collapsing.
He said when he rushed to the direction, where the sound was coming from, he could not believe his eyes when he saw people covered in debris of the collapsed building.
He said he and other members of the public who were at the scene rushed to help them while others contacted the police and the Fire and Emergency personnel who arrived later on.
He said together with the members of the public, they managed to retrieve three people who were rushed to hospital.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Superintendent Phindile Valakati confirmed that five people died at New Village as a result of an unfinished building collapsing on them.
She said two died on the spot while the other three died in hospital while receiving treatment.
One of the victims who passed away on the spot was identified as Mfanimpela Nhleko from Mandlovu area, who was employed as one of the constructors of the building.
The other one, who also died on the spot, was only identified as Matsebula. He was reportedly employed as a nurse at the Mbabane Government Hospital. It was gathered that he had also come to fix his car at the garage.
The names of the other three victims could not be immediately ascertained.
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