Three people were killed and around 100 were injured on Saturday after the seven-story headquarters of the Angolan police's criminal investigation department collapsed in Luanda, rescue workers said.
The three bodies were pulled from the rubble after hours of searching by teams of rescuers who were still struggling as night fell to access the worst-affected part of the building in which women detainees were trapped.
"We have recovered three bodies from the rubble and rescued 101 people," said Eugenio Laborinho, national commander of the protection services.
PHOTO: AFP
He said that those rescued from the rubble had been delivered to hospitals.
The wounded were mostly sent to the capital's main Sao Paolo hospital and to a military hospital where the authorities were not giving out details on the extent of their injuries.
The collapse happened at around daybreak when only a skeleton staff of 14 guards was on duty and all those who were injured were believed to be detainees who were being held while their cases are under investigation.
Laborinho said it was unclear how many were trapped.
"It will take us more than 48 or 72 hours until we reach everyone. This is what the engineers estimate," he said.
Cranes had been employed to shift some of the masonry while residents living nearby were told to evacuate their homes in case there was a further collapse.
Sniffer dogs have also been sent in to locate more survivors.
Local radio reported that the rescuers had struggled to reach the women's holding cell and were now looking to access by drilling through a neighboring building after it had been evacuated.
Police Commissioner Ambrosio de Lemos said that some of the survivors who had been located had been given emergency supplies before the rescuers began the task of trying to extricate them.
"We gave the victims supplies and cellphones to keep in touch. We know there's a woman with a baby," the commissioner said.
A reporter at the scene said that the cries of both male and female victims could be heard from within the rubble.
One of the victims who was rescued by the emergency services said he had heard a loud "cracking" noise from inside his cell during the night, shortly before the building collapsed.
"We heard something cracking. I looked out through the window and saw this pillar completely broken and then I saw one of the guards running away. We called for him to save us but he didn't come," Joao Salgueiro told state radio RNA. "Some time later we saw the building collapsing upon us."
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS