One of the workers, who was trapped under the rubble when the 5-storey apartment building under construction collapsed in George on Monday, has recounted his harrowing ordeal to the Mossel Bay Advertiser.
Delvin Safers, a father of one, and electrician from Mossel Bay, was pulled from the rubble on Tuesday afternoon after spending 25 hours fighting for his life.
He is finally back home in Mossel Bay, and even drove himself home from the hospital in George.
He told the local publication making arrangements would be too difficult for his family, so he just drove himself. Days earlier, he couldn’t even walk.
“You don’t think it will happen to you. My colleague and I were standing talking and it was a split second when we fell, then we were on the ground. Only darkness around you. I mean, there’s nothing you can see,” Delvin told the local news outlet.
Delvin could communicate to the outside world using his mobile phone, but the battery life on the device was decreasing fast.
He details how he didn’t even think to call anyone else but his family.
“My thought was not to call and say I’m alive, it was to say goodbye, because I don’t know if I’m going to get out here again.”
He says when he found his cellphone he turned on the torch to survey the situation around him. It’s then that he saw one of his colleagues, who had sadly passed away.
“It was already sad because I could say that was easily my future.”
He was surrounded by bricks until he could slowly but surely remove them slightly. Finally he could move his legs too and felt that part of his body was at least in working condition.
After several hours passed he started getting worried, especially as it didn’t appear that the emergency services could hear him.
The moment when he was finally free, he says he can’t really describe it other than that it was a great relief.
“But I thought that if I came out, I would be able to see the sun and feel the sun on me, but unfortunately it was dark. But then I saw all the people around me – it was a very good feeling.”
Delvin says he also saw his colleague’s family, after he was rescued, which broke his heart, especially since the colleague was planning on retiring next year. They spoke about it before the tragic building collapse.
Read the full interview with Delvin HERE.
