Toll in Angolan police base collapse rises to 24
LUANDA (AFP) — Twenty-four bodies have so far been recovered from the rubble of a police crime squad headquarters which collapsed at the weekend in Angola's capital Luanda, state media reported on Monday.
The Civil Protection Service's rescue team on Monday afternoon removed an additional three bodies from the rubble of the seven-storey building which collapsed at daybreak on Saturday, the ANGOP news agency said.
The national commander of the service, Eugenio Laborinho, had been quoted by the news agency earlier Monday as giving a death toll of 21.
About 180 people were believed to be in the building when it collapsed, including 145 detainees being held while under investigation, Interior Minister Roberto Leal Monteiro said.
At least 150 people were injured, including scores of detainees, according to rescue officials.
Monteiro has called on Portuguese Engineering Laboratories to investigate the causes of the collapse of the building, which was erected in 1974 during the colonial era.
Past warnings from top officials of the police Criminal Investigation Department over the deteriorating state of the building went unheeded, Radio Ecclesia reported on Monday.
While the authorities have refused to comment on the cause of the disaster, the Catholic station has said that a seventh floor had been added to the original building, with a massive generator placed on the top floor.
