City of Joburg devastated by death of 3 children after wall collapse

10 April 2018 2:03 PM

City of Johannesburg MMC for Community Safety, Michael Sun says they are devastated by the death of three children who died after a wall fell on them on Monday.

The children were playing next to the wall when it fell, killing three and injuring two.

Sun says as soon as the City heard the news, both he and Mayor Herman Mashaba rushed to the scene.

This is really a tragedy, we are devastated by the incident...
— Micheal Sun, MMC for community safety at City of Johannesburg

We will continue to evacuate everybody in the building. This is a dangerous building, unmaintained and dilapidated.
— Michael Sun, MMC for community safety at City of Johannesburg

Sun says they have evacuated about 100 people from the building and they were provided with emergency shelter, food, and blankets. The EMS continued to break down part of the building that is still falling down.

We want to ensure that we don't have a second incident injuring people.
— Michael Sun, MMC for community safety at City of Johannesburg

According to Sun, the occupants of this building were told several times that they needed to vacate the building because it is not safe, but they chose to stay.

The City is now expropriating many of the buildings that are not being properly maintained and offer them to investors who can erect proper structures, says Sun.

To hear the rest of the interview with MMC Michael Sun, listen below:

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : City of Joburg devastated by death of 3 children after wall collapse

Written by: Lengwadishang Ramphele