Collapsed building kills 2 at Spintex

The collapsed building

Two people have been confirmed dead and another person injured when an uncompleted storey building they were working on collapsed on them Monday afternoon near the Okpoi Gonno taxi rank at Spintex Road in Accra.

The deceased persons have been identified as Emmanuel Avor aka Obolo, a labourer, and Albert Ackom, a mason, while the injured was identified only as Kwabena also known as Kobby, a labourer.

He is currently receiving treatment at the Police Hospital in Accra.

The building, which is a warehouse, was being erected in a waterlogged area and the work was reportedly stopped by the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) on two occasions but nothing happened.

According to sources, residents of the area even tried to prevent the owner of the warehouse from putting up the building but to no avail.

The labourers had almost completed the ground floor, cast concrete on it and supported it with some bamboo sticks.

On Monday morning, the residents claimed that the men came to work as usual.

They alleged that while the men were working on the building, the bamboo sticks they had used to support the flow got removed and that part of the concrete caved in, trapping the three people.

With the help of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service and the police – with assistance from the residents – one person was removed from under the debris alive but the two died before their bodies were recovered.

A Baatsonaa police team, led by Chief Superintendent Felix Cosmas, Divisional Commander, took part in pulling out the trapped workers.

ASP Effia Tenge, the Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer, in an interview with this paper, said the police with the assistance of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service led by ACFO Samuel Mensah, Deputy Regional Commander, managed to rescue Kwabena and sent him to the Police Hospital for treatment.

She disclosed that the owner of the uncompleted warehouse, Ishmael Tettey, had already reported himself to the police to aid in investigation.