SCOAN Collapsed Building: Death Toll Rises To 80

Thursday, 18 September 2014

SCOAN Collapsed Building: Death Toll Rises To 80

Many more bodies continue to be pulled out from the rubble of the collapsed Synagogue Church of All Nations building, and the death toll now stands at 80.

Many people were trapped in the building, which collapsed on Friday.

“The death toll is now 80. We recovered 10 more bodies yesterday evening while the number of those rescued stands at 131,” said Ibrahim Farinloye, of the National Emergency Management Agency.

“The church has refused to furnish us with the identities and nationalities of those in the building when it caved in,” he told AFP.

Rescue operations had been due to finish on Wednesday but Farinloye said the search had been extended.

Some 300 South Africans were said to be visiting the church at at the time of the incident and the country’s President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that 67 had died.