News24 | Seven people injured after structural collapse near King Shaka airport

Multiple people were injured in a structural collapse in Tongaat on Saturday. (Supplied / IPSS)

Seven people were injured - one critically - in a structural collapse at a factory in Tongaat, north of Durban.

Paramedics and search-and-rescue teams raced to the scene on Saturday afternoon.

ALS Paramedics' Garrith Jamieson said they were there just before 14:00 on Saturday afternoon.

"At around 13:45 on Saturday afternoon, ALS Paramedics responded to numerous calls of a structural collapse on the R102 near the King Shaka International Airport, north of Durban. Paramedics from multiple ambulance services, together with all the necessary rescue divisions, were dispatched to assist," he said.

While the exact details leading up to the collapse were not clear at the time of publishing, it was understood there was construction work under way at the factory.

"Paramedics arrived on scene to find that while construction workers had been working on scaffolding inside a factory, somehow the scaffolding gave way," said Jamieson.

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He said there were seven injured and that two of them were still hanging from the ceiling by their safety gear and were rescued by teams from IPSS Medical Rescue, the Durban Metro Police Service Search and Rescue Unit, and the SAPS Search and Rescue Unit.

IPSS's Samantha Meyrick said that a cherry picker and a rope system were used to rescue the pair, and that both were treated by IPSS paramedics.

Jamieson said: "Once all had been treated on scene, they were transported to various Durban hospitals for the further care that they required."

He said one person was critically injured and had to be airlifted to hospital.