Bodies feared trapped under collapsed Sudan hospital

KHARTOUM, Feb 25 (Reuters) – A strong smell of decay has made Sudanese authorities reconsider their conclusion that everyone survived when a four-storey hospital annex collapsed in the capital Khartoum, an official said on Friday.

Rescue workers dug four people alive out of the rubble on Wednesday morning and said they did not believe there was anyone left. Nine people had been rescued in the first hours after the building collapsed on Tuesday evening.

“A strong smell of decay was reported coming from the eastern corner of the collapsed building, so we think there are bodies trapped under the rubble,” said the official, a member of the government committee investigating the collapse.

The annex to the Ribat police hospital, 7 km (4 miles) east of the city centre, was almost complete but patients and medical staff had not yet moved in when the building collapsed.

The official did not say if rescue workers would resume digging, almost three days after the incident. There have not been reports of missing people.

The building cost 6 billion Sudanese pounds ($2.5 million) to build and already contained equipment worth $2 million.