EL editor not among SA survivors.
More than 100 people have been confirmed dead, but Petrus Sanbleni was lucky to escape with his life when the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) in Nigeria collapsed two weeks ago.
Yet Sanbleni, 44, would not think twice about returning there.
“If I had the money, I would go back even today,” said the man who was stuck in rubble for 22 hours.
“Anything that has to do with God will come under attack,” he said, explaining that he saw the tragedy as spiritual warfare from evil forces.
Sanbleni rejected accusations levelled against the church’s charismatic leader, TB Joshua.
“If the accident was caused by a structural fault, it would not have collapsed the way it did,” he said.
“The way it fell showed it was an attack.”
Sanbleni said he saw the aeroplane, TB Joshua alleges to have been flown by terrorists who attacked the church, before he entered the dining hall for lunch.
Sanbleni says he did not suspect anything sinister as there was an airport nearby.
This was his second visit to Scoan. His first visit was last year.
On the day of the tragedy, he had just entered the dining hall on the ground floor of the church’s guesthouse in which he was staying when he heard a “strange sound”.
“I then saw the wall cracking,” said Sanbleni who found himself surrounded by rubble as he tried to crawl towards a wall, hoping to find a hole.
“Because of faith, I declared I was never going to die,” he said, adding that he and other survivors had prayed aloud.
He said he was the first person to be rescued the following morning on the side of the building in which he was stuck.
The family of an East London editor Ponko Masiba were called to the Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria yesterday to see if he was among the 25 survivors who were brought into the country from Nigeria yesterday morning.
A delegation of distraught family members was sent to the hospital yesterday with the hope of finding that the prominent businessman was still alive.
However, the relatives confirmed he was not among the survivors.
This is after the family members said they had been informed on Sunday that Masiba had died following the tragic collapse of the hostel housing pilgrims to TB Joshua’s church in Nigeria.
His cousin Sheila Masiba wrote on Facebook on Sunday that Masiba was deceased, however when the Dispatch contacted her yesterday she said they had received a phone call from Nigeria yesterday morning asking the family to go to the hospital.
She and another relative Siphiwo Gangca said the family was upset people had already posted condolence messages on Facebook.
“We still have hope and we don’t want to lose it,” she said.
The family has since been praying that Masiba is still alive.
Church collapse survivor held onto faith
More than 100 people have been confirmed dead, but Petrus Sanbleni was lucky to escape with his life when the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) in Nigeria collapsed two weeks ago.
Yet Sanbleni, 44, would not think twice about returning there.
“If I had the money, I would go back even today,” said the man who was stuck in rubble for 22 hours.
“Anything that has to do with God will come under attack,” he said, explaining that he saw the tragedy as spiritual warfare from evil forces.
Sanbleni rejected accusations levelled against the church’s charismatic leader, TB Joshua.
“If the accident was caused by a structural fault, it would not have collapsed the way it did,” he said.
“The way it fell showed it was an attack.”
Sanbleni said he saw the aeroplane, TB Joshua alleges to have been flown by terrorists who attacked the church, before he entered the dining hall for lunch.
Sanbleni says he did not suspect anything sinister as there was an airport nearby.
This was his second visit to Scoan. His first visit was last year.
On the day of the tragedy, he had just entered the dining hall on the ground floor of the church’s guesthouse in which he was staying when he heard a “strange sound”.
“I then saw the wall cracking,” said Sanbleni who found himself surrounded by rubble as he tried to crawl towards a wall, hoping to find a hole.
“Because of faith, I declared I was never going to die,” he said, adding that he and other survivors had prayed aloud.
He said he was the first person to be rescued the following morning on the side of the building in which he was stuck.
The family of an East London editor Ponko Masiba were called to the Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria yesterday to see if he was among the 25 survivors who were brought into the country from Nigeria yesterday morning.
A delegation of distraught family members was sent to the hospital yesterday with the hope of finding that the prominent businessman was still alive.
However, the relatives confirmed he was not among the survivors.
This is after the family members said they had been informed on Sunday that Masiba had died following the tragic collapse of the hostel housing pilgrims to TB Joshua’s church in Nigeria.
His cousin Sheila Masiba wrote on Facebook on Sunday that Masiba was deceased, however when the Dispatch contacted her yesterday she said they had received a phone call from Nigeria yesterday morning asking the family to go to the hospital.
She and another relative Siphiwo Gangca said the family was upset people had already posted condolence messages on Facebook.
“We still have hope and we don’t want to lose it,” she said.
The family has since been praying that Masiba is still alive.
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