The Ghana National Fire Service has asked managers of the Accra Shopping Mall to conduct routine maintenance works on the facility.
According to them, the safety assessment of the whole facility must be done immediately to prevent future occurrences of Thursday’s minor accident.
Speaking to Citi News, Accra Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, ACFO Ebenezer Simpson, said his outfit noticed that the portion of the ceiling that caved in was weak.
“Fire service we do our routine inspection as far as fire safety is concerned, and we wish to advise management on maintenance culture. We don’t have to wait for something of this nature to happen. We have to cultivate maintenance culture so that some of the things don’t happen,” he said.
Activity at the mall is ongoing as the affected area has been cordoned off.
In an interview with Citi News, some customers and shoppers said they were not perturbed about the incident.
There was panic at the Accra Mall on Thursday, October 11, 2018, when parts of the ceiling of the Electronics hub shop caved in and injured three people.
According to an eyewitness, the three persons were directly under the area that caved in.
President Nana Akufo-Addo expressed his sympathies to victims and also called on Ghanaians to work together to improve maintenance culture to forestall such accidents from recurring.
The management of the Accra Mall is optimistic that the retail centre will resume full operations by Saturday, October 13, 2018.
It also affirmed its commitment to ensuring the safety of its customers in a statement released on Thursday.
Although the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the police have cordoned off the affected area following a preliminary assessment of the damage, the management of the mall says the other shops remain open for business.
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By: Farida Yusif/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
