First time home buyers Fabiano dos Santos and Tamiris Coutinho dos Santos are still sleeping on a friend's couch almost a week after they were evacuated from their apartment in Mascot Towers after the 10-year-old building was evacuated on Friday night.
A complete evacuation was ordered after engineers were concerned about cracks in the primary support structure and facade masonry of the building in Sydney's east.
Six days after the evacuation, residents were still unable to permanently return to their homes.
With a handful of clothes, their pet dog and cats, the Brazilian couple says they continue to try to navigate a bureaucratic system, where they don’t know where to go or who to turn to.
A crack is seen in the structure of the Mascot Towers in Mascot, Sydney, Saturday, June 15, 2019 Source: AAP
"They told us to go to the Salvation Army or call the Lifeline," Mr dos Santos told SBS Portuguese.
“There is no news, no communication from the building management site, what we know is through the media.
“It is a sad situation. Many of the apartment owners are overseas and many are international students who are timid and are waiting for an official announcement telling them what to do. I am angry, that’s why I go to the building every day looking for someone to talk to, some people are worse off than us.”
Mr dos Santos, who came to Australia 10 years ago, said that on Tuesday he had the chance to go back to the apartment briefly to collect valuables.
“I picked up my wallet, my credit card, my documents, a jacket, put everything is a box and left,” he said.
“I worked hard, was able to buy my first home. But it's all been very hard. I am at the point of a breakdown.”
He described the moments when they were forced to evacuate as the "worst night of his life".
“We had 15 minutes to leave, we didn’t know what was going on, we thought the building would suddenly collapse on our heads. I felt panic, terror.”
He remembers going downstairs to remove the cars from the garage while his wife was picking up the pets and a change of clothes.
Owners of the cracked Mascot Towers will meet with officials and building experts on Thursday. (AAP) Source: AAP
“When I came back, the police had the tape around the building and didn’t let me in. I was screaming, I was desperate, it was total panic. I was nearly arrested.”
He was later reunited with his wife, and with the help of the fire crews, the pets had also been recovered.
Mr dos Santos said he was still haunted by the night.
“Coming from a ‘third world country’ I thought this was a good wealthy and developed country. In Brazil, people talk through their heart, as things are so hard to get done. That night, I was screaming ‘my wife is still there’, and the only thing they said to me was ‘if you trespass here you will be arrested’,” he said.
“I am exposing myself, and have been giving interviews because when the press loses interest and goes [away], we will be forgotten, like what happened at the Opal Tower.
“We hear on television the government saying we have had full support, they gave us the phone number of Fair Trading NSW and when we call them if we say we are from Mascot Towers, they give us the numbers of the Salvation Army and Lifeline.
"I asked them why should I call the Lifeline, I don't want to commit suicide. We feel homeless. We have nothing.”
The Mascot Towers building is seen in Mascot, Sydney Source: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
