THE government has extended rescue operations by 24 hours, after the statutory 72 hours of a rescue operation elapsed.

In a phone call with Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa regarding the ongoing rescue efforts, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is currently in Brazil for the G20 Summit, instructed that the search and rescue operations continue for an additional 24 hours.

Presidential communications director Sharifa Nyanga said in a statement yesterday that the move came from instructions by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, from the COP29 conference vicinity in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku.

In the phone call, the president demanded that the fight for the lives of those who may still be trapped under the debris be maintained for a while, even as rescue operations typically follow a 72-hour timeline before being called off.

“However, I remain hopeful that a miracle can happen and more of our brothers and sisters still trapped in the building can be saved,” she stated, revoking decisions to end the rescue operations.

They will be extended by another 24 hours to pursue penultimate efforts to fight for those believed to still be alive, she said, praising the rescue teams and others involved in saving lives.

Rescue teams were still digging through the rubble for a fourth consecutive day yesterday, hoping to find people still trapped in the collapsed building, which had three floors and a basement floor.

It collapsed on Saturday morning killing 16 people while 88 people had been rescued by Monday afternoon, cited by the premier in a state ceremony for the deceased, ahead of being transported for burial in various places.

Thobias Makoba, government spokesman, confirmed in a media briefing in Dar es Salaam yesterday that one person was rescued on Monday night and another on Tuesday morning. Both were taken to hospital for treatment.

He addressed concerns over the perceived slow pace of the rescue operation, stressing that the efforts were progressing at the right pace. “People who are not on-site may not fully understand the entire process. Given how the building collapsed, it is not possible to use heavy machinery like excavators to remove the rubble. We must proceed carefully to prevent further collapse,” he stated.

Rescuers had dug a small three-centimetre hole to communicate with those trapped below and provide them with oxygen and water, he said, in like manner as the premier earlier, with experts in the construction industry raising concerns over the lax enforcement of construction laws.

There are clear gaps in the regulatory framework, they said, where Grace Mbena, an urban planning officer in the city, said that while the government has the capacity to regulate the real estate sector, there are significant shortcomings in the administration of laws and policies overseeing the sector.

“The solution lies in strengthening regulatory enforcement,’ she said, underlining that the construction sector is evolving rapidly, “and some issues go unnoticed due to loopholes in the system.”

Edwin Nnunduma, the registrar for the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board (AQRB) stressed adherence to building regulations, as extant regulations prohibit that a structure is used before it is completed.

“In order for a building to be used, it must first obtain permits from the local authorities. We know that the building in question was in use while still under construction, and it is the local authorities who can provide the necessary details. If the building was still under construction, we will have more information on what went wrong,” he said.

The AQRB has dispatched a team to investigate the cause of the collapse and would release a report along with professional recommendations for the public, apart from the 19-man team appointed by the prime minister to look into the matter and make necessary proposals.