The family house of Allotey Jacobs, a former Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has collapsed and killed one person.
The one storey mud house at Amisakyir, a fishing community in Cape Coast, came down around 02:00 hours on Wednesday when the occupants were asleep, trapping two people.
This is the second building to have collapsed in the region in less than one week.
The victims were swiftly rescued by a joint team of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Police and Fire Service personnel and rushed to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.
One of the victims, 74-year Ernestina Nduom, also known as Maame Frema, was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Her 18-year-old grandson, Frederick, is however still on admission and receiving treatment.
Justice George Arthur, the Mayor of Cape Coast, visited the victims at the hospital and later broke the news of Madam Nduom’s demise to her family.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the scene of the disaster that he rushed to the scene around 02:00 hours after he received a call from the Assembly member of the area.
He said he saw two people trapped under the rubbles and called the security agencies and the building inspectorate and engineers who swiftly responded.
Arthur visited the victims at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital to foot their bills and cater for their welfare.
“When I got there, the woman was alive and responding to treatment, but after I have left five minutes later, the doctors called me to come back.
“They didn’t know how to break the news to the family and so they asked me to do that on their behalf and I did exactly that.
“It is indeed pathetic,” he remarked.
The Mayor, after consulting the occupants of the collapsed building and some adjoining dilapidated buildings, ordered that they should be demolished.
“We are embarking on a massive demolition exercise and so far, buildings that are in highly dilapidated states, I will not waste time in demolishing them with recourse to the families.
“So far, we have demolished four buildings. In addition to this, we will have about seven buildings to pull down,” he stated.
Arthur further indicated that immediate plans had been made to assist victims with relief items and shelter.
The bereaved family was grieving amid appeals to authorities for support when the GNA visited this morning.
Justice Nana Kwasi Agyemang, a member of the Central Regional NADMO communication team, indicated that nearby structures were being assessed for demolition.
He urged building owners and occupants to maintain their houses regularly and ensure proper sanitation to avoid the recurrence of such disasters.
“Many a time, they think it is a family house and so there is no need to invest in them.
“They just stay in them even when the house is coming apart and that is the cause of the collapse of most of these buildings,” he noted.
Occupants of the affected structures were feverishly salvaging their belongings to make way for the demolition at the time of filing this report.
They gave their consent to the demolition exercise but appealed to government and NADMO to go to their aid.
For his part, Samuel Essel, the Regional NADMO PRO, appealed to the public to support the organisation with logistics and relief items to aid their response efforts.
Meanwhile Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, the Paramount Chief of the Oguaa Traditional area, has visited the scene of the disaster to commiserate with the affected families and assess the extent of damage.