SAD SCENE: Emergency workers comb through the collapsed building in Korsten after having called
in a bulldozer and crane to help clear the rubble Picture: EUGENE COETZEE
A TEENAGER’S attempt to forage bricks for resale ended in tragedy yesterday when the condemned building he was in collapsed, crushing him to death.
Ronaldo Bergess, 14, was killed after the ceiling and support walls of the condemned building at the corner of Highfield Road and Matinisi Street in Korsten collapsed at about midday.
While initial reports had suggested that more than one child could be trapped under the debris, a dramatic, three-hour search-and-rescue operation ended in the recovery of one body.
Other children initially believed to have been there at the time were later found safe.
The fire department took command of the operation and deployed a bulldozer and mobile crane.
Emergency workers used angle grinders to cut through thick slabs of concrete while hydraulic jacks were used to lift the slabs in an attempt to get to the teenager’s body.
At 2pm, officials located the body and retrieved it from underneath the rubble while his mother, Maggie Bergess, 48, and father Arthur Erens, 59, stood at the rescue-area cordon.
As the body emerged, both parents broke down in tears and were ushered away.
Before the recovery of the body, his mother had said: “I just hope he is alive and that he is still with us. I am praying .
“I was at home just up the road when one of his friends came to call me. I ran to the building and the rescuers were already busy.”
She said Ronaldo and his friends frequently went inside the building to take the loose bricks and sell them.
“I have warned them several times but they just don’t listen,” she said.
Her husband simply said: “I just want him out.”
Friend Dianne Matthys, 57, who lives across the road from the building, said: “The building has been condemned for years.
“Everyone knew this was going to happen – it was just a matter of time.” But, she said, it remained a tragedy and “we are all in shock”.
Community member Patrick Ragaval said he had seen three children in the area earlier.
“When I returned, the building had collapsed so we originally thought that all three could be trapped,” he said.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said that rescuers used special cameras to search under the rubble.
“We can confirm that no one else was in the building,”
Ward councillor Isaac Adams said he had been attempting to get the municipality to sell the land and demolish the building for several years.
The building is reported to belong to a “Mr Omar”, but attempts to contact him failed.
Police have opened an inquest docket.
-Gareth Wilson
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