George building collapse: 5 five days under the rubble

NATIONAL NEWS - Gabriel Guambe's rescue five days after 75 Victoria had collapsed on 6 May 2024 was a miracle.

Extricating him from the depths of the ruins after the operation had been declared a recovery operation on day four - meaning the likelihood of finding survivors had passed and the focus had shifted from saving lives to bringing closure - was a massive consolation to rescue workers.

"Gabriel was one of the lucky ones. One thing we've learnt in our job is that when it's your time, it's your time. It wasn't Gabriel's time," said Alister Louis of ER24.

The 32-year-old tiler from Shoshanguve outside Pretoria was on the third floor when he looked up and saw the roof coming down.

He tried to outrun the falling mass of concrete and steel, but the floor disappeared and he fell down. Struck on the head by a deluge of bricks, Guambe said his makarapa (hard hat) saved his life. He describes the experience as pure horror.

"I don't want to think about it," he says, but he pauses to remember one of the deceased, George Khoza, a close friend from Mozambique who was busy tiling in another room when the building caved in.

For 118 agonosing hours, Guambe remained trapped in a chamber below a massive slab of concrete, surrounded by darkness, cold and dust.

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Blocking out the anguish of a broken hip, hunger, thirst, the indignity of having to urinate in his pants and lying in it for five days, as well as the fear that he was going to die, Guambe remained focused on getting out.