Johannesburg - A Polokwane travel agency confirmed that one of its tour groups had been lodging at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) in Nigeria when it collapsed.
“From our group, there were eight people, some from Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga,” said an employee of Voxismart Travel, who declined to be named.
“They left last week Thursday. There were no children.”
She was unsure if any from their group were among the 67 South Africans killed in the collapse.
“We don't have any information at (the) moment. We are waiting for Mr Lamula Mabunda (one of the tour leaders) to update us.”
Mabunda and his wife Mamsy Mabunda were the group's tour leaders.
A multi-storey guesthouse at the Scoan in Lagos collapsed on Friday killing numerous people, including 67 South Africans. They were believed to be part of five South African tour groups lodging at the church of faith healer “prophet” TB Joshua.
According to its website, Voxismart Travel is primarily dedicated to arranging visits from South Africa to Scoan.
Lamula Mabunda could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Rescue SA has been put on standby to leave for Nigeria and help with the search and rescue operation.
“It's just a standby at this stage. Foreign affairs (the department of international relations) asked us to put a team on standby,” Rescue SA CEO Ian Scher told Sapa.
“There has been no further correspondence from them... but there is a meeting today (Wednesday) with different roleplayers and they may decide if we should go.” - Sapa
* The figures for dead and injured people in this disaster are still being collated. IOL will use the latest figures available to us, but be aware the numbers will fluctuate as the story is updated.