A church building which collapsed on Tuesday has claimed the lives of about 12 people and left many worshippers injured.
The sad incident occurred at Akyem-Batabi in the Asene Manso Akroso District of the Eastern Region. According to the police, those confirmed dead include nine females and three males.
The six-storey building which is said to be owned by the Church of Prosperity headed by Prophet Isaac Ofori (aka Akoa Isaac) collapsed during a Tuesday prayer service around 2:00 pm.
Police sources say 13 victims were removed from the rubble on the first day of the rescue mission, out of which six (all females) were dead, one in critical condition while six victims, namely Adu Godfred, 21; Erasmus Larnor, 25; Elizabeth Toot, 18; Bridget Birorey, 59; Jonas Larnor, 45, and Charity Addison, 38, were treated and discharged by the Oda Government Hospital.
“The founder, Prophet Akoa Isaac, has told police in his statement that he was sick and lying in his residence near the church building when he heard the implosion,” the police disclosed.
He said he was told that about 56 worshippers were in and around the building fasting and praying when the incident happened.
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Four persons were later confirmed dead on Wednesday morning, bringing the initial death toll to 10; but by noon two more deaths had been recorded at the hospital.
The police and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have been busy in their rescue efforts and several excavators and ambulances as well as fire tenders were seen at the site.
Some of the injured persons were treated and discharged on Wednesday morning but two were said to be in critical condition.
Prophet Akoa Isaac, according to sources, started the construction of the building around 1992 and unconfirmed reports claimed he was asked to stop when the construction reached the fifth floor due to safety issues, but he allegedly failed to listen and continued to the sixth floor.
It’s unclear what led to the collapse of the building, but the NADMO District Director of Asene Akroso Manso, Willington Gyan, confirmed that “an engineer told the owner of the church to cease development of the building due to the structural deficiency detected.”
He, however, said they are yet to find what caused the collapse of the building.
“When we find structural defect on a building we report to the municipal and engineer and inform him to take action,” he indicated.
As to whether the owner of the building had the permit to build, Mr. Gyan said NADMO has no such information.
The Regional NADMO boss, Kwame Kodua, told DAILY GUIDE that they suspect some of the members are still under the collapsed structure and they were doing everything possible to rescue them.
He said apart from the people who were trapped, including the unfortunate deaths, there were vehicles around the building which were destroyed.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, together with the team from the NADMO and the Ambulance Service were at the scene to ensure the place was cleared.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Akyem – Bataabi