Cape Town sandbank collapse: Fourth child dies in Nyanga tragedy

The last of the four missing Nyanga children who were engulfed by a collapsed sandbank on Monday has been discovered. Sadly, the young boy was confirmed dead by Cape Town police, upon being pulled from the rubble. The freak incident has broken hearts across the country, and highlights the grim realities of growing up poor in South Africa.

Cape Town sandbank collapse: Fourth boy confirmed dead in Nyanga

Distressing details surrounding the death of four Cape Town children on Monday 8 February emerged yesterday, with police explaining that the young kids had been playing innocently near the N2 highway when they became engulfed by falling earth that resulted from a sandbank caving in directly on top of them. 

At approximately 02:21 this morning, the body of a fourth boy was discovered. https://t.co/0kDhUG6pgh

— Veve (@LudidiVelani) February 9, 2021

Harrowing details emerge from Nyanga tragedy

An urgent search and rescue operation was launched with the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue services deployed to try and retrieve the children from the collapsed ground. Tragically, only the lifeless bodies of the children were retrieved one by one, with responders continuously alerted to the possibility that more children may have been involved in the tragic accident. 

Spokesperson for Cape Town Traffic Services, Kevin Jacobs, said the north and south bound link onto the N2 from the R300 was closed on Tuesday. The death of the fourth boy was confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday morning, following an exhaustive operation to rescue the children in Nyanga. Sadly, nothing more could be done for them.

EFF demand probe into Cape Town sandbank collapse

The EFF is already calling for a full investigation into these devastating developments, and became the first political group to express their deepest sympathies for the families affected. Truly, this is a tragedy that will scar the community for some time to come, and the demand for answers will now intensify.

EFF Western Cape would like to express its heartfelt condolences to the families of the boys whose lifeless bodies were found trapped underground near the N2 Borcherds Quarry road intersection in Nyanga, Cape Town. We call for a full investigation into this tragic incident. pic.twitter.com/IbnMqhERdE

— EFF_Western Cape (@EFFWesternCape_) February 9, 2021