A portion of the collapsed church building

Five-storey church building collapses at Awoshie

Some residents of Awoshie in Accra are living in a state of fear after the collapse of a part of a five-storey church building belonging to the Fruit of Christ International Church last Saturday night.

Concrete slabs from a section of the storey building fell on an adjacent building, went through the roof and fell on a bed around seven o’clock in the evening.

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No casualty was recorded as the children, whose bed the slabs fell on, were watching television in the hall at the time of the incident.

The affected family has since relocated from the house, but the occupants of the opposite rooms are still living in their rooms, albeit in a state of fear.

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Rush building

The residents claimed that the founder of the church, Prophet Mafred Acheampong, used less than one year to put up the five-storey building.

Ms Naara Annan told the Daily Graphic that construction of the church building was done throughout the night, and indicated that noise from the construction used to disturb their sleep.

“In fact, the building took just about six months to complete,” she said.

Ms Naara said she was in her room last Saturday between seven and eight o’clock in the night, when she heard a deafening noise.

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She said when she and other occupants rushed out, they were covered in dust. They later discovered that a portion of the building had collapsed on her aunt’s room.

Ms Annan said she had since been living in fear, as the slightest noise got her agitated.

Another resident who wanted to remain anonymous appealed to the authorities to pull down the rest of the building to ensure the safety of residents.

She expressed regret that although the church held a service last Sunday, a day after the incident, Pastor Acheampong did not visit the affected house to ask of the condition of the people.

Poor construction
When the Daily Graphic visited the area yesterday, the police, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had cordoned off the building.

Police officers were stationed in the area to ensure security and compliance with the caution.

To prevent people from getting closer to the building, the Ablekuma North Sub-Metro Coordinator of NADMO, Mr Albert Tagbor, supervised the writing of a warning notice “Keep Off” on the church building.

Mr Tagbor told the Daily Graphic that the construction was poorly executed.

He said the lack of iron rods in the beams contributed to the collapse of the building.

Mr Tagbor said city engineers would assess the building to determine the next line of action to take.

Giving details, the Greater Accra NADMO officer in-charge of operations, Mr Ebenezer Sackitey, said the building was put up in a rush to avoid any inspection of work by the authorities.

He said he suspected that the owner did not secure the requisite permit for the building.

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“The building poses a serious threat to the people, especially the adjoining houses. So they have to keep off the building till the appropriate safety measures are taken,” he said.

Efforts by the Daily Graphic team to get in touch with the officials of the church were not successful.


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