Church Building Collapse: Rescue operation ends

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has officially brought its search and rescue mission at Akyem Batabi in the Eastern Region to an end to make way for full investigations into the collapse of a six-storey uncompleted church building last Tuesday.

At the end of the exercise, 30 persons were retrieved, 22 confirmed dead and eight alive.

The National Coordinator of HAD NO, Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, who officially closed the search and rescue mission, appealed to the general public to use appropriate materials and seek technical advice before building .

He also asked individuals and organizations to submit plans for building to district assemblies for advice before embarking on building projects.

He also appealed to the MMDAs and their Physical Development Department officers to increase monitoring efforts on buildings to avert such disasters from reoccurring.

He pointed out they have the responsibility to stop people who are not following due process regardless of their position or persuasion and expressed worry negligence cannot always result in loss of human lives and spending of governments scarce resources in rescue exercises.

The Asene Manso Akroso District Security Council (DISEC) is expected to begin investigations soon.