(Dar es Salaam) Rescue teams tried on Sunday to extract people trapped under the rubble of a building which collapsed the day before in the Tanzanian economic capital Dar es Salaam, killing at least thirteen people.
Posted at 2:00 p.m.
The building in Kariakoo, the East African country’s busiest market, collapsed while people were shopping there.
Thirteen people died in the collapse of the building, the presidency announced on Sunday, a previous report showing five people killed.
The accident also left dozens injured.
At least 84 people were pulled from the rubble, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said in a video from Brazil where she is due to attend the G20 summit.
Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Albert Chalamila said earlier that people were still trapped in the basement of the ruined building, without specifying their number.
“We communicate […] and we have already provided them with oxygen and water,” he said. “They are in stable condition and we believe they will be rescued alive,” he added.
Fire Chief John Masunga said search and rescue operations were hampered by the numerous walls forming the structure of the building.
The causes of the accident are not known. But witnesses told local media that work to expand the underground market began on Friday.
The Tanzanian president added that the immediate priority was on rescue efforts and that a “thorough” audit led by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on the condition of all buildings in Kariakoo would follow.
“The police should also get all the information about the collapsed building from the owner and find out exactly what happened,” she ordered.
Hundreds of rescuers searched through the rubble with their bare hands, drills and hammers to try to find survivors. Excavators were also deployed to the scene.
Dar es Salaam and its five million inhabitants is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is experiencing a frenzied real estate boom, with buildings emerging very quickly, often in defiance of regulations.
In 2013, a 16-story building collapsed there, killing 34 people.
