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Three die as detention center collapses in Angola

Rescue workers work among the rubble of the headquarters of the criminal investigation department that collapsed early in the day in Luanda, Angola, on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

Three people were killed and around 100 were injured on Saturday after the seven-story headquarters of the Angolan police's criminal investigation department collapsed in Luanda, rescue workers said.

The three bodies were pulled from the rubble after hours of searching by teams of rescuers who were still struggling as night fell to access the worst-affected part of the building in which women detainees were trapped.

"We have recovered three bodies from the rubble and rescued 101 people," said Eugenio Laborinho, national commander of the protection services.

He said that those rescued from the rubble had been delivered to hospitals.

The wounded were mostly sent to the capital's main Sao Paolo hospital and to a military hospital where the authorities were not giving out details on the extent of their injuries.

The collapse happened at around daybreak when only a skeleton staff of 14 guards was on duty and all those who were injured were believed to be detainees who were being held while their cases are under investigation.

Laborinho said it was unclear how many were trapped.

"It will take us more than 48 or 72 hours until we reach everyone. This is what the engineers estimate," he said.

Cranes had been employed to shift some of the masonry while residents living nearby were told to evacuate their homes in case there was a further collapse.

Sniffer dogs have also been sent in to locate more survivors.

Local radio reported that the rescuers had struggled to reach the women's holding cell and were now looking to access by drilling through a neighboring building after it had been evacuated.

Police Commissioner Ambrosio de Lemos said that some of the survivors who had been located had been given emergency supplies before the rescuers began the task of trying to extricate them.

"We gave the victims supplies and cellphones to keep in touch. We know there's a woman with a baby," the commissioner said.

A reporter at the scene said that the cries of both male and female victims could be heard from within the rubble.

One of the victims who was rescued by the emergency services said he had heard a loud "cracking" noise from inside his cell during the night, shortly before the building collapsed.

"We heard something cracking. I looked out through the window and saw this pillar completely broken and then I saw one of the guards running away. We called for him to save us but he didn't come," Joao Salgueiro told state radio RNA. "Some time later we saw the building collapsing upon us."
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