{"id":608847,"date":"2019-04-19T13:34:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"
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At least 1"},"modified":"2019-04-19T13:34:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T13:34:00","slug":"south-africa-hit-by-deadly-easter-church-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/19\/south-africa-hit-by-deadly-easter-church-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa hit by deadly Easter church collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At least 13 people have died and many were injured when a wall collapsed in South Africa at the start of an Easter service at a Pentecostal church.<\/p>\n

Emergency services said that 29 people were rushed to hospital after the collapse in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n

Local officials have blamed the tragedy on heavy rainfall in the area around eMpangeni on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Local reports said some people had been sleeping when the brick wall fell.<\/p>\n

The wall at the front of the Pentecostal Holiness Church collapsed at the start of what had been planned as a weekend-long service to commemorate the Christian festival of Easter.<\/p>\n

On Friday, a special prayer service was held in a large tent in front of the church, reports the eNCA TV station.<\/p>\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the church last year and some of the congregants reportedly asked for his support to build a new church.<\/p>\n

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant is a member of the church and was planning to attend the Good Friday service there.<\/p>\n

She has arrived at the scene and said: \u201cEven at this difficult time, we still need to trust in God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local official Lennox Mabaso told SABC news that the church \u201ca solid structure\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an act of nature. It is an act of God. Not even a president could have been able to save this particular situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a heavy storm that affected this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: BBC <\/strong><\/p>\n

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