Collapsed Warehouse Kills Six

Some residents of the area at the scene.

The Top Base neighbourhood at Gbawe in Accra was struck by disaster on Saturday afternoon when a warehouse under construction collapsed and killed six persons, including the contractor and wife of the Nigerian owner of the property.

Police sources named three of the deceased as Johnny Bukey, Kwame Nguah and Tina Kalu, who is believed to be the wife of the Nigerian owner of the warehouse. A fourth person's name was given only as Joseph but the other two persons could not be identified.

Out of four other persons who escaped death, two were treated and discharged, while two others, whose names were given as Kweku Abeka and Chika Lekwuwu, a Nigerian lady, are on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

Residents in the area believe that there are some victims still trapped under the concrete rubble.

According to the District Chief Executive of Ga West, Mr Brosby Quartey-Papafio, there was no permit for the construction of the warehouse, an assertion that was confirmed by three “Stop Work” notices, including a final warning notice, by the District Assembly on the walls of the building.

The owner of the warehouse, identified as Mr Jonathan Kalu, a second-hand clothes dealer, was on admission at the Mercy Clinic at Mataheko at the time of going to press.

He was said to be hard-pressed for the facility for the storage of large quantities of bales of second-hand clothing which had been sitting at the Tema Harbour for many months, thus imposing a huge financial cost on his business.

Rumours were rife among residents that the concrete roofing did not dry sufficiently before the boards supporting it were removed, basing their allegation on the speed with which the structure was put up, coupled with the poor quality of work.

In the wake of the disaster, the DCE resolved to move bulldozers to the area this week to pull down all buildings that had no permit from the assembly.

Although eyewitnesses said three of the owner's children were trapped, the Deputy Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) K. A. Boateng, who was at the scene of the accident, told the Daily Graphic that no child was traced after an excavator was brought in to help with the rescue operation.

Official records at the Accident Centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital showed that six victims were brought to the centre. Two of them were dead, one male and the other, a female, believed to be the wife of the owner of the property.

Another two were treated and discharged while the remaining two were still on admission.

The two on admission are a male and an expectant mother, who is said to be a friend of the deceased wife of the owner of the building.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around 2.30 p.m. and as of 8 p.m., a rescue team, including personnel of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Red Cross, the police and the National Ambulance Service who were marshalled, were still digging the heavy debris to search for the dead and survivors.

Although there were discrepancies in the number of people present at the time of the collapse, one of the workers, Mr Mohammed Akwan, who escaped, said he was with five workers inside the main building while an unidentified number sat close to one of the pillars.

He said his colleagues were removing the boards which had been used to support the concrete roof of the warehouse, when the structure collapsed on them.

Residents in the area claimed that three weeks after decking the building, they were surprised to see the workers remove the board that provided support for the concrete.

A resident, Mr Christopher Nat Quartey, said workers on the site refused to heed several pieces of advice on the dangers posed by their shoddy work.

Last year, a similar incident occurred at the OA bus terminal in Kumasi when a three-storey building collapsed, killing some people in the process.