Two women lost their lives after a one-storey building collapsed on them last Tuesday afternoon in an area known as Assemblies, near Top Town at Ngleshie Amanfro in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
The two were identified as Hannah Lomotey, a midwife and owner of Hope of Restoration Health Centre, and a 28-year-old nurse at the facility, Juliet Koranteng.
Ms Lomotey, a mother of two, died on the spot after being trapped under the rubble of the collapsed structure which was still being constructed while Ms Koranteng lost her life last Tuesday night at the Kasoa Polyclinic.
A set of twins, said to be the grandchildren of Ms Lomotey, and another nurse are currently receiving treatment at the Winneba Trauma Hospital.
Attraction
The site of the disaster became a scene of attraction yesterday morning as residents from far and near trooped there to see the collapsed structure.
When the Daily Graphic arrived at the scene around 9 a.m., residents and other visitors had gathered in groups discussing the incident.
Under the structure was the light green plastic chair Madam Lomotey was sitting on.
Distraught family members had also gathered at the place at the time of the Daily Graphic’s visit.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, another nurse, Esther Pokuaa, who escaped by the skin of her teeth because she left the building to go and wash her hand before her meal, said the building collapsed shortly after it had begun to rain.
The victims, she said, were either sitting or standing under the structure, when it went down, trapping them in the process.
She said it took the fire service team from Kasoa and the police to move to the scene to try and rescue them.
“Shortly after I left the building to this polytank to wash my hands, the building collapsed and I could hear one of the twins calling my name for help under the rubble.
Though confused and not knowing what to do at that moment, as I could not lift the concrete slabs, I mustered courage to call the police,” a visibly shaken Ms Pokuaa said.
She said the incident happened shortly after 2 p.m.
Rest point
Two other residents also indicated that the midwife had delivered a lady of a baby early in the morning before the incident happened.
Another resident who gave his name as Felix said the occupants of the house normally relaxed at the scene of the collapsed building in the afternoon.
“They were sitting under the facility to enjoy some fresh air when the incident occurred,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Awutu Senya East Municipal Fire Commander, DO3 Mercel Kwami Avadu, said after their arrival at the scene, they were able to rescue two of the victims before an excavator they had called came and cleared the rubble to enable them to reach the others.
He said investigations were ongoing as there were more questions to be asked about the integrity of the structure.
“Further investigations will show the true cause of the collapse of the building,” he said.
Number six
The incident at Amanfrom brings to six, the number of storey buildings that have collapsed across the country this year.
Last May, three multi-storey buildings collapsed at three different places within a spate of one week.
There were six-storey buildings under construction at the University for Development Studies and City Campus at Sagnarigu in Tamale in the Northern Region; a three-storey building at Nanakrom in the Adentan Municipality, as well as a three-storey building under construction at the SDA Junction at the Adentan side of La-Nkwantanang Madina, in Accra.
That incident resulted in the death of one person, with three others sustaining varying degrees of injury.
Also last month, a three-storey building collapsed at Winneba in the Central Region.
Following the collapse of the earlier buildings, four ad hoc committees were set up by key professional bodies to investigate the cause of the collapsed buildings in some parts of the country.
Source: graphic.com.gh