14 years ago, a six-storey building housing the Achimota Melcom collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 81 others.

The incident brought the country to a standstill as security personnel, including officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the National Ambulance Service, worked day and night to rescue the victims.

Derrick Addo, a survivor, has recounted moments leading up to and during the collapse.

According to him, he had observed visible warning signs of cracks on the pillars of the building days before the tragedy.

Achimota Melcom Disaster: I can only thank God – survivor narrates near death experience 8 years on

In a video sighted by GhanaWeb on March 19, 2026, he stated, "The pillar had already started cracking on Wednesday. When we came to work the next morning, chippings from it had spread on the floor; we stand by it when we have prayer sessions.”

Derrick stated that although staff raised concerns about the pillar, no clear action was communicated to them.

"The manager took pictures of it and sent it to the office. And I was told some people came by but they didn't really tell us anything. It was the third day or so that the incident happened,” he narrated.

Derrick said on the day the building collapsed, his attention was fixed on the pillar during the prayer session.

"...I was facing the pillar that broke down first, so when he (the manager) came to stand there, a lady brought up a song for us to sing and my eyes were on the pillar that was facing me. It had cracked ... I was just looking at it and she began singing. All of a sudden, some began shouting, within four seconds, the building collapsed,” he recounted.

He indicated that amid the chaos and the loud shouts, he began praying.

“I just started speaking in tongues. And I was shouting out, 'I don't want to go to hell; I want to go to heaven. Jesus. I don't want to go to hell; I want to go to heaven.... My face was facing the ground. And you could feel the things that were falling," Derrick narrated.

He later passed out but regained consciousness after a while.

After some time, he regained awareness and realised that some survivors were attempting to escape.

“After a while, maybe 30 minutes to an hour, I realised people were moving. One of them, Prince, was calling others to crawl towards him. But when I tried to move, I realised my leg was stuck. I couldn’t get up, so I had to remain there," he added.

Watch the video below:

Derrick Addo, a survivor of the Achimota Melcom building collapse on November 7, 2012, which killed 14 people, injured 67 others, and saw 81 people rescued, narrates how it all happened and the thoughts that raced through his mind while he was trapped under the rubble. pic.twitter.com/B1BOFzVMxK

— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) March 19, 2026