George Municipality X
Garden Route authorities have updated the figures for the number of people who were present at the site when a building under construction in George collapsed.
In an update on Thursday, the Garden Route District Joint Operational Centre now confirmed that there were 81 people on the site on Monday when the structure came down and not 75 as initially reported.
This follows "intensive discussions" and scrutiny of the safety records with the responsible contractors.
"The contractor has now confirmed that the number of workers on site at the time of collapse was 81," said Municipal spokesperson, Chantelle Edwards.
This now means that the number of people still unaccounted for stands at 44 while the number of confirmed fatalities was eight.
Sixteen people remain in critical condition in hospital, while six others have life-threatening injuries and seven others sustained minor injuries.
"The rescue operation is at 64 hours as of 6:11 this morning, 9 May. Rescue efforts continued overnight.
"The emergency response team is implementing more substantive concrete breakers and additional trucks to remove building rubble from the site," Edwards said.
Meanwhile, the Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, will be inspecting the site in George on Thursday where he will interact with Department officials on site and other stakeholders.
