Story: News Desk
The death toll from the collapse of a four-storey building at Avenor in North Kaneshie has risen to three, after one of the two survivors rescued from the rubble died, the Mayor of Accra has confirmed.
Mayor Michael Kpakpo Allotey disclosed the updated figure, revealing that among the three dead was the owner of a Mothercare shop that was operating within the collapsed structure.
Four people in total were caught up in the collapse when the building came down in the early hours of Sunday, June 7.
Two were initially recovered alive and rushed to the hospital, while two others were found dead. One of the hospitalised victims has since succumbed to their injuries, bringing the confirmed death toll to three.
The building — a four-storey structure believed to have been constructed around 2020 or 2021 — housed both residential and commercial occupants, including the Mothercare shop.
Investigations into the cause of the collapse are ongoing. Engineers from the Ghana Institute of Engineers who visited the site have raised serious concerns, pointing to the apparent absence of a building permit from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and visibly substandard concrete that is unlikely to meet basic structural strength requirements.
Structural Engineer Emmanuel Aidoo had warned that a building of that size cannot be put up without proper engineering oversight.
“These structures have to be engineered. You can’t just use your mind to construct such buildings. It’ll come back and hunt you,” he said.
Formal tests, including concrete sampling and structural modelling, are yet to be completed before investigators can issue definitive findings on the cause of the collapse.
The Avenor incident is the second building collapse recorded in Accra within a week. A building also came down at Adenta New Site on June 3rd, killing one person and injuring four others.
The back-to-back tragedies have intensified calls for stricter enforcement of building permit requirements and structural safety inspections across the capital.
