Durban - A woman from KwaZulu-Natal who survived the horror collapse of a building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos was adamant on Wednesday that she would return to the Nigerian church.
Speaking to The Mercury a few hours after arriving home, Thandi Zulu, who spent three days in a Lagos hospital after rescuers pulled her from the rubble, said she was “beat but recovering”.
“Even tomorrow I can go back; I will not stop,” the Newcastle woman said. She had injuries and “needed to sleep”.
She was reluctant to disclose details of the incident.
“All I can say is that it was by the grace of God that some people could escape. If He was not there, maybe everyone would have died,” she said.
Zulu said dozens of South Africans were still in various hospitals in Lagos.
She had been at the church for 17 hours when the incident happened.
Fikile Maoka, 40, a former Pietermaritzburg woman who left the church pilgrimage a day before the collapse, said she had been “shocked and rattled” when she heard about the tragedy.
“I have thanked God because it could have been me,” she said.
Maoka, who now lives in Pretoria, told The Mercury she and her husband, Willie Maoka, had paid R20 000 each for the week-long trip and had stayed in the building.
The building had housed the southern African group (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe).
“People from other continents had their own building,” she said.
She had travelled with about 200 others, most of them South African.
Only four floors of the building had been in use as the fifth and sixth floors were being renovated.
She said the church did not allow those on the pilgrimage to leave the church compound until their seventh day was over.
“It is one street with guest rooms, a bakery, a laundry and other facilities. You are not allowed to leave the area unless you make a request,” she said.
Visitors had to be “screened and registered” to be allowed in and locals were only allowed on to the property for Sunday services.
She had gone on the pilgrimage for “spiritual upliftment”.
“A friend went there last year and brought me anointing water. I was having problems with my finances and my house was about to be auctioned, but things changed and my finances were back in order,” she said. She planned to go back to the church early next year.
Another Newcastle woman, Dudu Nkabinde, who went to the church last month, said she was also keen to return.
“Saying I won’t go back does not make sense because even in South Africa, buildings collapse.”
On Wednesday night, Nigerian authorities disputed figures released by the South African government on the number of South African casualties in the disaster.
The Nigerians said 70 bodies had been recovered from the rubble but remain unidentified, questioning South Africa’s assertion that 67 of the victims were South African.
President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday night that at least 67 South Africans had died, describing it as one of the worst tragedies in his country’s recent history.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, however, said it was too early to know how many people had been killed or what their nationalities were
“The president (Zuma) is not in Nigeria. We are working on what we have,” agency spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said, adding that 131 people had been rescued alive.
* 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.
The Mercury