Neo Trend Group ICE Projects Identified as Contractor Responsible for George Building Collapse

• The Mayor of the George municipality in the Western Cape, Leon van Wyk, says they are not at liberty to disclose contractors
• He notes that the site is still a crime site, and investigations are already underway
• As of Tuesday morning, at least six people were pronounced dead, while 28 were rescued and 47 were still stuck

Developer Neo Trend ICE Projects has been identified as the contractor responsible for the tragic collapse of the George building.

Following social media backlash, Western Cape officials have disclosed the owner and construction company even after noting they were not at liberty to do so.

According to the executive Mayor of George Municipality, Leon van Wyk, the matter is treated as a criminal case, and therefore, they could not disclose the company's name.

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Investigations are already underway

In a media briefing, van Wyk said people need to understand that the site is now a criminal site.

"The Department of Labour has already been there to conduct and start their investigations, and the police crime scene unit has also been there to do that work. From the provincial and municipal side, we’ll also be looking at an investigation to see how this incident occurred."

"The nature of this construction activity is apartment building, so we are talking about five stores."

However, van Wyk also noted that the team was probably led by professionals who could explain what went wrong.

"The team would have required all of that architect, the engineers, and the structural engineers should be involved in that process, so there’s a whole chain of command that takes place there on how that construction activity takes place.”

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However, in the second update van Wyk noted the developers submitted their plans on 22 December 2022 and were later approved on 6 July 2023.

"The site is 1228 square meters, has a basement parking lot, and has 42 flats on four floors."

Update on the rescue mission

According to the provincial government update as of 11:00 on Tuesday morning, a total of six patients were declared deceased.

"Twenty-seven patients have been removed with 48 persons being searched for. Three teams of rescue personnel are currently working on three different areas within the site of the collapsed building. Around 111 emergency personnel are on-site, and it is estimated that the entire operation will take 4-5 days to complete."

22 workers rescued after tragedy

In a similar report, Briefly News reported that about 22 construction workers were rescued and rushed to hospital after a five-story building collapsed in George, Western Cape, on 6 May 2024.

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The building reportedly buckled with a construction crew of about 70 people on-site.

Disaster management teams from George and the Garden Route district municipality were involved in the rescue operation. Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said more resources were sent to the town to help rescue efforts.

Source: Briefly News