Rush to Find Survivors after 9 Dead in Ghana Mall Collapse
Rescuers combed through the rubble of a collapsed six-storey mall in Ghana on Thursday in an urgent search for survivors as the death toll climbed to nine and with 67 people so far rescued alive.
An 18-person search team from Israel was due in the West African nation later on Thursday to help with the rescue effort as Ghanaian authorities used concrete cutters, a crane and other equipment to clear away debris.
It was not clear how many people were inside the building when it collapsed ahead of opening time on Wednesday morning. Police had initially said around 50 employees worked there, but the number of people located has far exceeded that.
"As of now, we have so far got 76 people, nine of whom unfortunately lost their lives, so we are still going on," Dan Mishio, director general of operations in the Ghana military.
President John Dramani Mahama has suspended his campaign for the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections and ordered a probe into the collapse, with the cause yet to be determined.
The collapse had sparked desperate rescue attempts on Wednesday, with construction workers from a nearby site rushing over to join the search and Ghanaian authorities carefully picking through the rubble.
Several thousand people had gathered at the scene on Wednesday, including family members desperately trying to reach relatives by phone and crying out in agony.
One man who reached someone trapped inside said he had spoken of needing water as the West African heat bore down.
"They are suffering," Stephen Ansah, a Melcom employee from another branch, said at the site on Wednesday. "The heat is too much."
A crowd also gathered at the site on Thursday, though there were fewer people than the previous day. Officials pledged to continue searching until everyone was accounted for.
"We will continue to work until the last person is retrieved," said Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, minister for greater Accra.
"With the increasing number of people being rescued, it is likely there are still people beneath the rubble which we have to save."
Questions swirled over what caused the collapse of the Melcom shopping centre, while an executive from the company said the building had been rented.
"This was not our building. This was a rented building," Arvinder Singh told journalists.
Residents said the mall opened for business about seven months ago.
President Mahama called the incident "a tragedy for Ghana" and vowed that an investigation would determine what went wrong.
"I decided to call off my campaign to come and have first-hand information about the incident," he said when visiting the site on Wednesday.
"A committee will be set up to investigate the cause of the accident, and whoever is found culpable will be dealt with."
The Melcom Group of Companies, based in Ghana, includes extensive retail outlets, according to its website.
Source: Agence France Presse
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