“At the moment, officials are focused on saving lives. This is our top priority at this stage,” said Alan Winde, Western Cape premier.
Those rescued from the site had been sent to hospitals across the Western Cape province, the municipality of George, a coastal city east of Cape Town, said in a statement.
CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed a cloud of dust as the building crumbled.
“I saw one guy was working and then ‘boom’ and I saw the whole building collapsed … I’m also traumatised. It is very sad,” Theresa Jeyi, a local councillor, told reporters at the scene.
Rescuers on site were trying to recover where they heard calls from people, George Mayor Leon van Wyk told broadcaster SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation), while rescue equipment was on its way.
“This is going to be a really lengthy exercise and probably going to go right through the night,” he said.