Pupils of the Accra New Town Experimental Basic School will not be attending school today, Monday, March 30, 2026, following the collapse of a three-storey building near the school’s premises yesterday.
Authorities say the place needs to be secured as investigations are ongoing to establish the exact cause of the disaster.
In an exclusive interview with TV3’s Eric Mawuena Egbeta at the site on Monday, the officer in charge of the incident command post and leader of the engineers regiment of the military on the ground, Lt. Col. Amponsah, advised that it would not be ideal to allow the pupils attend school considering the situation.
He said the decision was taken by the school authorities and having a school session was not something he was going to advise for.
“That is the decision of the school authority. But looking at the situation here I think it is not ideal for the school children to be back with their school activities at least for today. It would be prudent for the place to be cleared for them to start school,” he stated.
Lt. Col. Amponsah added that they are going to clear the entire debris from the scene. “Our current activity is to clear the debris in order to make sure the area is free from this unfortunate incident.”
Residents and bystanders rushed to the scene immediately after the collapse, attempting to rescue victims and worshipers using bare hands and basic tools before the arrival of emergency responders.
Meanwhile, the Interior Minister, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has confirmed the death of three persons from the incident, with 20 others hospitalised.
Speaking to the media at the site of the collapse on Monday, March 30, the Minister noted that the various emergency responders have all given their account and confirmed a total of 23 persons at the facility at the time the incident occurred.
“We’ve gotten the Fire Service to do their account of what they were able to do, we’ve gotten the police, NADMO, Ambulance to give their account and we’ve put all the information together, and what we can say is that, there was a total of 23. Unfortunately we lost three,” the Minister noted.
He explained further that “the three that we lost are a male and two females.”
Meanwhile, the remaining 20 victims, according to Mohammed-Mubarak, are receiving treatment at various health facilities, including the Police Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, Mamobi Polyclinic and a private facility.
He also disclosed that there were 15 females among the 23 people who were inside the building, with 8 males. “Out of this we have minors that are 7 but those who have lost their lives, there is no minor. They are all adults,” the Interior Minister added.
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