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Authorities on Thursday blamed faulty
construction for the collapse of a five-story building in Ghana's capital that
killed at least nine people and trapped dozens of others until they were freed
by crews picking through broken concrete with axes.
The structure housing a popular home goods store
crumbled early Wednesday, just nine months after it was built in a
working-class neighborhood.
Kate Adobaya, a spokeswoman for Ghana's National
Disaster Management Organization, blamed the building collapse on structural
weakness.
"The foundation was not good enough,"
she said, adding that crews worked in shifts through the night to search for
other possible victims.
President John Dramani Mahama toured the scene
Wednesday and told reporters those responsible for the building's collapse
would be punished.
The building was being leased by Melcom Ltd.,
but the retail company did not construct the building, according to the chief
operating officer of Melcom Group of Companies.
Arvinder Singh said he wanted to be "very,
very, clear" that the property was being rented.
Ghana's National Disaster Management
Organization said that 75 people have been removed from the building's rubble,
and that nine of them have died.
An 18-man rescue team from Israel was expected
in Accra later in the day with special equipment and sniffer dogs, according to
a statement from Mahama's office.
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