Three worshippers lost their lives and two dozen others were rescued after a partially constructed three-story building collapsed during a Sunday church service in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
The victims—two women and one man—were crushed when the structure gave way in the city's New Town district. Ghana's Interior Minister, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, confirmed that 20 survivors, predominantly women and children, were pulled from the rubble and are currently receiving medical treatment at local hospitals.
Emergency crews worked tirelessly through the night under glaring floodlights to sift through the debris. Mubarak stated there is a "90 to 95 percent certainty" that no additional victims remain trapped beneath the wreckage.
"It's a very sad day for all of us," Mubarak remarked, while commending the rapid response and dedication of the emergency rescue personnel.
While an official investigation into the cause of the disaster is underway, the collapse followed a period of heavy rainfall. Locals report that the structure, originally intended to be part of a local school, had sat incomplete and poorly maintained for years. Despite its dilapidated state, the space was still being actively used for gatherings.
Amadu Mohammed Hafiz, who operates a business across the street, recounted the terrifying moments the building came down. He described hearing a sudden, loud noise followed by a blinding cloud of dust. Upon hearing trapped congregants crying out for help, he immediately alerted the authorities. Hafiz noted that the structure had long looked as though it "could fall anytime."
Other residents echoed this sentiment, expressing anger and dismay that activities were permitted inside a building widely known by the community to be structurally unsound.
The fatal incident has reignited nationwide scrutiny over Ghana's building safety standards and enforcement. For many, it drew grim parallels to a deadly 2012 multi-storey shopping center collapse that was ultimately blamed on shoddy construction.
Ludwing Annang Hesseh, president of the Ghana Institution of Engineering, pointed to a systemic failure in regulatory oversight rather than a lack of legislation.
"We have the laws, we have the regulation, and if we do things right, we will not get this problem," Hesseh stated, urging stricter enforcement to prevent future catastrophes.