Mother

Photo: RUSA

Mother and son crushed to death as retaining wall collapsed on home

A 59-year-old mother and her 16-year-old son were crushed to death when a retaining wall collapsed onto the roof of their house.

Mother

Photo: RUSA

A mother and her son were tragically killed on Thursday evening when a retaining wall collapsed onto the roof of their house on Pricklepear Road in Waterloo and crushed both of them.

THE MOTHER COULD INITIALLY BE HEARD CRYING

According to Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) spokesperson Prem Balram they were alerted to the structural collapse by the public on Thursday at approximately 22:56.

Mother
Photo: RUSA

“On arrival, Reaction Officers established that a retaining wall had collapsed onto the roof of the house.

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“A 16-year-old boy was crushed on his bed. His 59-year-old mother was in her bedroom and could initially be heard crying. She then went silent and was also presumed to be deceased.”

Balram said the eldest son managed to escape without injury.

“Rescuers were unable to enter the building on Thursday evening due to poor lighting and the risk of further structural collapse.”

He added an Excavator and a Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB) were utilised to remove large slabs of the broken wall.

Firefighters from the Ethekwini Fire Department and Officers from the SAPS Search & Rescue Unit entered the building and extricated the two bodies at around 4 pm on Friday.

Meanwhile, the eThekwini Mayor, Counsellor Mxolisi Kaunda sent his heartfelt condolences to the family.
He said in a statement that he has learned with shock and great sadness the death of two residents in Tongaat.

“They were sleeping when they were buried by an unlawfully constructed wall.

“The accident happened after the city has issued a notice to the owner to stop construction as there were no plans submitted for approval.”

Photo: RUSA

He furthermore said eThekwini, has on several occasions appealed to residents to refrain from building any structure without it giving a green light.

Kaunda urged residents to respect the city’s by-laws as they are made to maintain law and order.

“This is a horrible accident that has just happened. I am still reeling in shock after it was brought to my attention. And it is very sad that their lives were taken by the wall that was not supposed to be constructed in the first place.

“This accident must send a clear message to all our residents that these by-laws are not aimed at frustrating them, but to prevent accidents of this nature to happen. By continuing to disregard the city’s by-laws, we are putting our lives in danger.

“For anyone to commence with construction, they need endorsement from us. Following this accident, we are going to be unrelenting in our quest to clamp down on anyone building without being authorised to do so by this sphere of government” said Kaunda.

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According to Kaunda, institutions responsible for dispensing justice must ensure that anyone on the wrong side of the law in this regard faces its full might.

Mother
Photo: RUSA