Disasters at Kasoa Market, Ataabadze claim 9 lives

Three separate accidents at different locations in the Central Region have led to the death of nine persons and the destruction of property running into millions of Ghana Cedis.

At the Kasoa New Market in the Awutu Senya East Municipality, the collapse of a building and a fire outbreak on two separate days resulted in the death of four persons and the destruction of property.

The third incident, a car crash, occurred at Ataabadze Junction, near Elmina, yesterday morning, killing five people with one person seriously injured.

Structure

An eye witness, who gave his name as Nana Kwasi, said a carpenter who perished in the collapse of the building, was working with other people when the storey building suddenly collapsed.

The other victims, all females, were running errands for the workers such as fetching water for the concrete work.

He said they were working on the concrete of the second floor when the structure tumbled down to the ground.

Nana Kwasi indicated that when he and his friends heard the sound, they rushed to the scene and found out that one person, the carpenter, had died on the spot, while the three died on the way to the hospital for treatment.

The Assemblyman for the Joemens - Kpomotey Electoral Area, Mustapha Mohammed, said apart from the four he did not have any information about any other person being affected.

Fire

The inferno affected the shops in the market.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Grade II Kofi Forson told the media that extensive damage had been caused by the time fire personnel got to the scene.

That, he said, made it difficult to bring the fire under control. Despite the combustible nature of the fire, personnel were able to bring it under control.

The GNFS has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

Accident

The accident at the Ataabadze Junction involved a Sprinter bus, Man Diesel Articulated Truck and Howo Tipper truck with registration numbers GR6081-18, GW5416-24 and GB1592-22 respectively.

Confirming the incident, the Central Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), DOIII Abdul Wasiu Hudu, said preliminary investigations indicated that the Sprinter bus was travelling from Cape Coast towards the Western Region while the two other trucks were travelling in the opposite direction when they collided in a suspected case of overtaking which resulted in the accident.

At the time of going to press, the number of confirmed deaths stood at five, but DOIII Hudu said the figure could rise.

He said the GNFS rescue team extricated one of the drivers and three passengers who were confirmed dead at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital on arrival.

DOIII Hudu said the service received a distress call at 6:49 a.m. reporting the incident, and a rescue team from the Central Regional GNFS headquarters was quickly dispatched to the scene.

He said on arrival, the team saw two bodies on the ground covered with cloth, indicating that three of the casualties had already been sent to the hospital when the rescue team arrived.

He stated that the police had taken over the investigation into the accident.