Cape Coast building collapse claims two lives as storm batters Central Region

A residential structure has come crashing down in Cape Coast, claiming the lives of two people as torrential rains pounded the Central Regional capital in the predawn hours of Sunday, June 21.

The fatalities have been identified as Anastasia Abakah, a 12-year-old child, and Adwoa Baduwa, a 40-year-old woman, with confirmation coming from medical personnel at the hospital where they were taken following the collapse.

The Ghana National Fire Service mobilised rapidly after receiving word of the disaster at a single-room dwelling situated in the Gyagyaano neighbourhood, positioned behind Yogurt Fie on Idan Fourth Alley. Four people had been pinned beneath the fallen structure when rescue teams arrived at the scene.

Firefighting personnel dispatched from both the Cape Coast Metropolitan and Central Regional Fire Service headquarters worked with urgency to extricate all four trapped occupants from the wreckage. The group — consisting of one man and three women — was subsequently conveyed to Ewim Polyclinic by the National Ambulance Service for emergency medical assessment and treatment.

Despite the swift rescue operation, clinical evaluations at the hospital would later reveal that two of the four survivors could not be saved. Anastasia Abakah and Adwoa Baduwa succumbed to injuries sustained in the collapse.

Structural Failures in Heavy Rain

Preliminary analysis by the Central Regional GNFS points to heavy rainfall as the culprit in the structural failure. The deluge appears to have compromised the building’s ability to bear load, ultimately precipitating its collapse.

The Fire Service has seized the moment to issue a broader public advisory. Residents occupying aging mud-brick structures or dwellings exhibiting visible signs of deterioration are urged to commission professional structural evaluations before the rainy season intensifies. Those deemed hazardous should be abandoned immediately, particularly given the heightened risks posed by sustained precipitation.

Yaw Opoku Amoako

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