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Gitega, Burundi, 2009-07-11 (Sapa-AFP) -
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Burundi builders trapped in rubble
By
Sapa-AFP
July 10 2009
Bujumbura, Burundi - Fifteen people were killed, 39 others were injured and
three were missing under rubble when a building under construction collapsed in
central Burundi, medical officials said on Friday, giving a new toll.
"Since yesterday (Thursday), we have received no new bodies or injured people in
the hospital, but we now count 39 injured and 15 dead because one died of his
wounds during the night," the head of the hospital in the town of Gitega,
Frederic Irambona, told reporters.
Officials said about 150 workers were at the construction site in Gitega at the
time of Thursday's accident.
The building was to house offices of Burundi's presidential party, the National
Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy
(CNDD-FDD).
"The search of the ruins is still going on because we're told that there are
three workers still under the rubble," said spokesperson for the party Onesime
Nduwimana.
"At first, we thought all 150 workers on the site were under the rubble, but it
seems that some managed to get away in time," he said.
"This terrible accident was caused by serious construction flaws, notably at the
mixing level, because the cement used wasn't sufficiently strong," said an
official with the CNDD-FDD who asked not to be named.
Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza was on Friday afternoon due to attend a
funeral ceremony for the victims of the accident, his communication services
said.
The building collapse was the worst accident of its kind in the history of
Burundi, according to police.
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