‘Accra Mall structurally safe, closure is needless’

Marketing Manager for Accra Mall, Denise Asare, has said it will be needless to close down the facility, over Thursday’s incident that saw portions of the ceiling of the mall’s electronics hub collapse.

“I can confirm to you that Accra mall is structurally sound and closing down the entire mall is not necessary. However, as we do not understand how this has happened, a full audit of the mall will be done and we will ensure that our patrons are safe,” Ms. Asare said on Eyewitness News.

Ms. Asare said they had taken the decision based on advice from engineers of the mall.

“We go through regular maintenance and we’ve had advice from our engineers that it’s not necessary to close down the entire mall, and once we are done with investigations we will let you know.”

Ms. Asare said they are confident that the entire Mall will be operational by Saturday morning.

She said investigations are underway to establish the cause of the incident.

“We can confirm the incident and unfortunately three shoppers sustained minor injuries and are receiving medical attention. We are currently investigating the cause of the collapse. We will subsequently make the public aware of our findings.”

Three injured

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), has confirmed that three persons were injured in the incident.

Speaking to Citi News, the Director of Geological Disasters at NADMO, Richard Amo Yartey, explained that, the three, all Nigerian nationals, were receiving treatment at the Mall clinic.

“Portions of the ceiling of the electronics hub collapsed. We’ve found out that three persons were injured. They are Nigerians, and are undergoing treatment at the Mall Clinic. NADMO and the Ghana Police Service have cordoned off the electronics hub, whilst investigations to find the cause of the collapse continue.”

Mr. Amo Yartey added that NADMO is conducting an assessment of the damage caused by the collapse while the area has been cordoned off.

“NADMO will conduct an independent investigation, but the owners of the premises will also have to conduct investigations to ascertain the cause. We are assessing the situation. After the assessment, we’ll hold a briefing session for the media. The whole area is cordoned off. We are restricting [people] from entering the area whilst the assessment is ongoing.”

Customers flee

There was some confusion earlier on Thursday with customers fleeing from the Accra Mall when portions of the ceiling collapsed.

According to an eyewitness, the injured persons were directly under the area that caved in.

“I came to shop inside the Mall. I saw the roof come down on a shop. There were two people inside the shop. When the roof came down, they were directly under it. Some people came around and helped the victims.

“From the way they were carried to the mall clinic, it looked like they had minor injuries.”