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The construction site in George where a building collapsed on Monday has been declared a no-fly zone.
The Garden Route District Municipality Joint Operations Centre confirmed this on Friday following reports that a “private drone” was flying over the rescue zone on Victoria Street on Thursday.
Spokesperson, Chantelle Edwards, said that the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has declared the incident site a “No-Fly Zone.”
“This restriction will be strictly enforced, and any individuals found violating it will be subject to criminal prosecution,” she said.
Meanwhile, Edwards said that the death toll from the tragic incident rose to nine, after one of the patients recovered from the site in critical condition, died in the hospital.
On Thursday authorities revised the figures for the number of people on the site at the time of the incident to 81, from the 75 that was initially reported.
This means now that a total of 44 people are still unaccounted for after 37 patients were retrieved from beneath the rubble since Monday’s disaster.
Authorities also brought in big earth-moving machinery to assist in the recovery operation as up to 3000 tons of concrete would need to be moved.
“Despite the introduction of large machinery, rescue techniques will still be applied meticulously and sensitively by the highly skilled and experienced disaster management team,” said Edwards.
In a twist, the Department of Employment and Labour revealed that the owner of the property appears to have gone to ground.
The Chief Inspect of the Department in the Western Cape, David Esau, said that there had been no contact with the owner since the tragedy on Monday.
The Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, visited the disaster scene on Thursday, while the Health Minister, Dr Joe Paahla, will lead a delegation to the city on Friday.
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