A tragic incident unfolded in the early hours of Saturday, in Cape Coast as an old storey building collapsed during a heavy downpour, killing two people and leaving three others with life-threatening injuries.
The collapse occurred near the well-known London Bridge area, drawing attention to the dangers posed by aging infrastructure in the historic coastal city.
The victims were trapped under debris for several hours before being rescued by a combined emergency team comprising the Ghana Police Service, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and the Ghana National Fire Service.
According to police sources, they received a distress call about the incident at approximately 5:30 a.m.
Officers were immediately dispatched to the scene, where they were joined by NADMO and Fire Service personnel to initiate a search-and-rescue operation.
“By the time we arrived, the structure had completely collapsed,” a police official at the scene disclosed. “We worked in coordination with other emergency services to dig through the rubble manually and with equipment to reach the victims.”
Three of the five people trapped beneath the rubble were pulled out alive and rushed to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, where they are currently responding to treatment. However, two others were not as fortunate.
“One of the deceased was recovered during the initial phase of the rescue, while the second body was retrieved around 2:40 p.m.,” the police source added. The identities of the victims have not yet been officially released.
Emergency responders described the rescue mission as challenging due to the age and fragility of the surrounding structures, compounded by the continuing rainfall.
Meanwhile, authorities have identified another nearby building in a similar deteriorated condition.
The structure, also a storey building weakened by the rains, has been evacuated and barricaded by police as a precautionary measure.
Efforts are underway to demolish it to avert another potential tragedy.
Residents in the area expressed grief and fear, with some calling on city authorities to conduct structural audits of all old buildings in Cape Coast.
“We’ve been worried about that building for years,” said a neighbour who witnessed the incident. “Now we’re scared there are more like it that could fall.”
The Cape Coast Municipal Assembly and NADMO are expected to issue further safety directives in the coming days.
