Dar es Salaam Building Collapse Toll Hits 34
Rescuers have pulled more bodies from the rubble of a building that collapsed in Tanzania's economic capital Dar es Salaam, bringing the toll to 34 three days after the crash, a local government official said on Monday.
"Ten bodies were found between Sunday afternoon and dawn today. This brings the total number confirmed dead to 34," Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Saidi Mecky Sadicky told Agence France Presse.
"We will continue looking for more bodies and perhaps we will find more," Sadicky said, adding that rescuers had managed to excavate the rubble up to the ground floor level but "we will go on until we reach the basement of the building."
Between 60 and 70 people are thought to have been around the partially-built 16-storey building when it came crashing down on Friday morning in the Kisutu area of the coastal city.
At least two children were among those killed and 18 people had been rescued alive following the collapse.
Officials have said there was little hope of finding any more survivors in the rubble.
Local residents have turned out to supply rescuers with food, water and medication.
The ill-fated building is a joint project between the state-owned National Housing Corporation and Ladha Construction Limited.
Sadicky said investigations into the cause of the accident are under way and police are now holding eight people for questioning.
Those arrested are presumed to be the owners of the building and officials from both the construction firm and Dar es Salaam City Council.
In 2008, another building that collapsed in Dar es Salaam claimed at least four lives.
Source: Agence France Presse
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