Emergency crews worked under floodlights through the night, picking through the rubble of a three-storey building in Accra that had been used as a church. It came down on worshippers on a Sunday. At least three people died: two women and a man.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak said 20 others, mostly women and children, were pulled out alive and taken to several hospitals. He put the total in the building at 23 people. “It’s a very sad day for all of us,” he said. He told reporters there was “90-95% certainty” that nobody else remained trapped.
The count moved during the rescue. Early reports confirmed two deaths and 14 people rescued, and the minister later raised the rescued figure to 20. He praised the responders for how quickly they acted. The national fire service posted images on X of the operation, with a crowd packed anxiously around the scene. Eyewitnesses said they could hear trapped people calling for help from under the debris.
An unfinished building
Locals said the structure stood in Accra’s New Town area and belonged to a school. It had sat unfinished for several years, yet it was being used for church services. One eyewitness called it “very weak” and badly maintained, and said the community had known for a long time that it was unsafe.
The collapse followed heavy rain. Officials say the cause is unknown, and investigations have begun to establish why it gave way. Crews kept clearing debris to check for further victims.
The disaster has revived memories of the 2012 collapse of a multi-storey shopping centre in Ghana, which was blamed on poor construction. It has also put a hard question to the authorities about letting unfinished buildings host public gatherings.
