Three persons have been rescued from the site of a building collapse in Accra’s North Industrial Area, with three others feared to be trapped beneath the wreckage.
Alex King Nartey, a member of the Ghana National Fire Service’s (GNFS) Communications Team, revealed this to reporters present at the scene.
He claims that while rescue crews continue to search for and save those who are still missing, the three victims who were rescued have been sent for medical attention.
According to Mr. Nartey, the Fire Service has been forced to wait for help from other agencies as a result of the shortage of earthmoving equipment, which has hindered rescue operations.
“As at now, the Fire Service doesn’t have earth-moving equipment, so we’re waiting for the military to bring one. The Accra Mayor has also arranged for one. We tried to create some space to bring them out, but it’s not big enough, so all we can do now is wait,” he said.
The Fire Service was the first to arrive on the scene, he continued, and if it had access to such equipment, it would have used it right away.
“If the Fire Service had earth-moving equipment, we would have brought it with us and started working since we were the first responders. Moving forward, we hope the government will get the Fire Service some earth-moving equipment,” he said.
Mr. Nartey went on to say that although preliminary reports indicated that two people were buried beneath the rubble, fresh intelligence suggests that a third person might also be missing.
“From what we are gathering, there might be a third person trapped. He was recording a video of the scene after the initial collapse when another part of the building reportedly collapsed on him. We will, however, confirm this when the earth-moving equipment gets here,” he said.
Authorities are working to clear the debris and ascertain the precise number of individuals trapped while rescue operations continue.
Source: newsthemegh.com