Earlier, Twenty-four people were rescued from the site and sent to hospitals, the municipality of George, a coastal city east of Cape Town, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Fifty-one people remained trapped, according to a statement from the municipality of George.

“Seventy-five members of construction crew have been confirmed on site at that time of the incident,” Western Cape premier Alan Winde said earlier.

CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed a cloud of dust as the building crumbled on Monday afternoon.

“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.