2012-11-09 08:28:28
Faulty construction caused a multi-storey shopping centre to collapse in
Ghana's capital, Accra, killing at least nine people, officials have said.
They say the building did not have the necessary permit and so had not had a
safety inspection.
President John Dramani Mahama said those responsible for the "negligence will
pay a price".
Rescue efforts are continuing, with 69 survivors pulled out from under the
rubble since Wednesday, police said.
Mr Mahama suspended his campaign for next month's election, after the disaster
at the Melcom store.
At the scene
Akwasi Sarpong BBC News, Accra
There are about 1,500 people here - some of them have climbed roof tops and
trees - trying to get a glimpse of the rescue operation.
It is far more organised than on Wednesday, when there was confusion,
frustration and anger as people demanded to know how the shopping centre, which
opened earlier this year, could have collapsed.
But the government managed to calm people, after promising an inquiry to
establish whether poor building standards had caused the disaster.
I can see one man breaking down cement blocks with an axe, as rescuers clear
the debris in order to create "wind passages" for people trapped underneath.
Deputy Health Minister Rojo Mettle-Nunoo is wearing a helmet and face mask,
directing ambulances - like a traffic warden - as they rush survivors to
hospitals in Accra.
He also ordered an investigation into why the building, in Accra's Achimota
neighbourhood, collapsed.
A spokeswoman for Ghana's National Disaster Management Organization, Kate
Adobaya, said structural weakness had caused the collapse, AP news agency
reports.
"The foundation was not good enough," she is quoted as saying.
Police spokesman Freeman Tettey told the BBC that rescue teams have so far
pulled out 78 people from beneath the debris - nine of them dead and 69 alive.
It is not known many people are still trapped, he said.
'Bad concrete mix'
An Israeli rescue team has arrived, using sniffer dogs to help locate people
buried under the rubble.
The BBC's Akwasi Sarpong reports from the scene that the rescue operation is
far more organised than on Wednesday, when there was confusion, frustration and
anger as people demanded to know how the shopping centre, which opened earlier
this year, could have collapsed.
Ghana Institution of Engineering Vice-President Magnus Quarshie told the BBC's
Focus on Africa programme that they were still carrying out their
investigations into the disaster.
"However, looking at the debris, it shows workmanship was very, very poor," he
said.
"We can tell the concrete mix was not to the specifications we require," the
AFP news agency reports him as saying.
The building "didn't have a permit, which means that AMA [Accra Municipal
Authority] may not have assigned a building inspector," he said.
AMA Mayor Alfred Vanderpuye said officials had been carrying out checks for the
past two years to identify buildings without permits, "but how we missed this
one, we are going to find out", Ghana's Joy FM radio station reports.
Mr Mahama acknowledged, in comments posted on his website, that the government
did not enforce safety standards when high-rise structures were built.
"We are going to put in place mechanisms to check the safety and security of
other high-rise buildings and find out if there aren't any more such disasters
waiting to happen," he said.
The Melcom Group of Companies, which has retail outlets across Ghana, said it
had closed its stores on Thursday as a mark of respect for the dead.
In a statement on its Facebook page, Melcom said it had rented the building.
"This is indeed a very tragic incident," it said.
Mr Mahama has declared the area a disaster zone.
He cut short a trip to northern Ghana on Wednesday, where he was campaigning
for the 7 December parliamentary and presidential elections.