Miracle in the rubble

Trapped in a space no bigger than an office chair, a South African woman survived five days on a trickle of water from a broken pipe before being pulled yesterday from the rubble of the collapsed guest house at The Synagogue Church of All Nations, in Nigeria.

The rescue of Lindiwe Ndwandwe revives hopes of finding alive 17 other South Africans still unaccounted for after the seven-storey guest house at the church of televangelist and self-proclaimed miracle worker TB Joshua collapsed in Lagos.

Rescuers are battling to reach the restaurant area, where most of the pilgrims were when the building caved in on Friday, killing 80 people and injuring hundreds.

The collapse, thought to have been caused by poor construction, killed 67 South Africans.

Among the children who have survived but whose parents are unaccounted for is an 18-month-old girl whose sister, believed to be seven, was critically injured.

Sam Monaisa, South African consul-general in Nigeria, confirmed Ndwandwe's rescue yesterday.

"It's amazing that, after five days, she was found alive. It gives us hope that those who are still missing might somehow be found alive.

"No one knows how she survived. It's a miracle she is alive and uninjured. She walked out with only a few scratches.

"A number of pilgrims survived because they were blown out through doors and windows by the force of the collapsing floors.

"It's terrifying to listen to how people could hear rescuers searching for them but [could] do nothing to get their attention.

"Can you imagine being trapped in a tiny dark space for days . the terror and fear?"

Monaisa said one of the biggest tragedies of the disaster was the deaths and orphaning of children.

"We have an 18-month-old baby girl. Her parents are among the unaccounted for, her sister is seriously injured. We hope their parents are somehow still alive.

"Husbands have lost wives and wives their husbands. The difficulty we now have is identifying the dead. For now we only have traumatised survivors to try to identify their loved ones."

Monaisa said the situation was chaotic. "Emergency workers are still digging, trying to remove the tons of rubble as carefully as possible to find survivors and bodies."

He said that when the building collapsed 353 South Africans were on the church grounds.

"We knew tour groups came here, but had no idea that there were so many people here now."

For Hlubi Molebatsi's family, the horror of not knowing was "devastating". Family members say they cannot get answers from church leaders.

All the 37-year-old Vereeniging accountant's family has been told is that "God is in control".

Molebatsi left for Nigeria on Tuesday last week.

Her mother, Morwesi, and family waited for her in vain at OR Tambo International Airport yesterday.

"I last spoke to her on Friday. We haven't received any feedback from the church except that 'God is in control'. The embassy said she is not at the church or in hospital. So where is she? Under the rubble?" Morwesi asked.

The family said its calls to Emmanuel TV, in Rivonia, Johannesburg, which organised Molebatsi's trip and which broadcasts Joshua's services, were fruitless.

Molebatsi's brother, Mpho, said: "I was more scared of her contracting Ebola."

Among the missing is Queens-town, Eastern Cape, resident Thomas Matsila, who went to Nigeria with his wife, Lulama, on Tuesday last week. Matsila's cousin, SABC parliamentary editor Vuyani Green, said he last spoke to Matsila on Thursday.

"He called me very excited ... they were looking forward to the preaching and Joshua's ministry."

Green said Lulama told him that, on the day of the disaster, it had been extremely hot.

"Thomas went to the guesthouse to change. They agreed to meet each other at a nearby mall. As Lulama was about to come out, she was told about the disaster and ordered to remain where she was. That was the last time she saw him."

On Tuesday, someone describing himself as co-ordinator of The Synagogue Church of All Nations confirmed Matsila's death.

"We were like twin brothers. A week hardly passed without us talking."

International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said yesterday that the government had sent disaster management experts and doctors to fast-track the recovery and repatriation of the bodies of South Africans and to trace the injured.

"With the little information they have ... working with the travel agents and passports they could access, 67 South Africans are dead and 20 injured."

South African diplomats in Nigeria have expressed frustration at the lack of cooperation by the church.