Accra Newtown School Building Collapse: GES Directs Students to Stay at Home Following Tragedy
- The Ghana Education Service shut down the school operating near the Newtown building collapse
- The service will hold an emergency meeting relating to the assessment of structures near school compounds
- Over 20 individuals were trapped in debris, with 20 rescued and hospitalised after the fatal building collapse
The Ghana Education Service has ordered students to stay away from the Newtown Experimental D/A School following the collapse of a nearby building.
The service is set to hold an emergency meeting on the matter, which was a grave safety concern before the eventual collapse that killed three people.
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The Ghana Education Service Director-General, Prof Ernest Kofi Davis, told Citi News the safety of the other school structures would be checked.
“We are going to work with the regional and national teams, including the estate department, to ensure that the remaining structures are safe for use. If they are not, we will advise students to avoid those areas."
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The incident occurred on March 29, when an uncompleted four-storey building on the school premises, reportedly used as a makeshift church, collapsed during a worship gathering.
A total of 23 people, including three minors, were trapped in the debris, of whom 20 were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment.
The three confirmed deaths were of two females and one male. Some of the victims were referred to the 37 Military Hospital for urgent medical care.
The Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly claimed to Citi News that warnings were issued to residents not to use the building at the Newtown Experimental D/A School prior to its collapse.
Education minister, others visit the disaster site
While the emergency responders were busy rescuing the worshippers who were trapped in the rubble, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, visited the scene to monitor what was happening.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo and the Mayor of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Michael Kpakpo Allotey, also visited the site.
Daniella Ntow Sarpong, the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) of the GNFS, was also present at the site.
Dignitaries continue to troop to the site on March 30, with Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang among officials visiting to monitor the situation.
Opoku-Agyemang questioned the approval conditions of the collapsed building at Newtown Experimental D/A School, condemning the circumstances that allowed it to be in use.
The National Disaster Management Organisation has explained that the collapsed building was a Ghana Education Trust Fund project from 2012. The project had been abandoned.
Henry Quartey controversy at building collapse scene
YEN.com.gh reported that the former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, expressed disappointment over how some national security operatives treated him at the scene of the school building collapse in Accra Newtown.
Speaking to the media, Quartey said he had only visited the accident scene as a former MP for Ayawaso Central to assist in the rescue of the victims.
He accused security personnel of politicising the rescue efforts at the disaster site.
Source: YEN.com.gh
