Reports received indicate that voices can still be heard in the rubble of a multi-storey shopping centre at Achimota-Neoplan in Accra, more than 48 hours after it collapsed, rescue workers have said.
Rescue efforts are now concentrating on the section where the voices can be heard.
Peacefmonline.com can confirm that four people have been identified as still being alive under the rubble in the collapsed Melcom building. They are said to be trapped in a mangled elevator.
So far 78 people have been rescued from beneath the debris of the Melcom store – and the death toll rose to 18 following the discovery of nine more bodies on Thursday evening.
Four of the victims were buried under slabs of stones; sadly, one of the victims was a pregnant woman. An Israeli rescue team has been using sniffer dogs to help locate people buried under the rubble.
Experts have blamed faulty construction for the collapse of the building, which opened earlier this year. On Thursday, the Ghana Institution of Engineering said the building did not have a permit which meant the city authorities may not have inspected the building before it opened.
Earlier today, people in nearby buildings owned by the same company, Kinsadus; were ordered to evacuate pending safety inspections.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) ordered three nearby buildings owned by Nana Kwesi Boadu, the director of Kinsadus Company, to be evacuated.
These include the branches of two financial institutions; Standard Chartered Bank and Fidelity Bank.
A court order posted on the Standard Chartered Bank building on Friday morning states that .......continue at http://www.rosemarynkblog.com/48hrs-after-melcom-mall-tragedy-voices-can-still-be-heard-under-rubble/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBnAGY5JCA0

Melcom Disaster at Achimota

At 9:30am on Wednesday, November 7th 2012, the six-story building housing Achimota's Melcom shopping center collapsed. No outside forces prompted the building to fall, but it was later discovered that the building had no permit and was built without meeting regulations. At least 50 people were trapped in the wreckage as emergency rescue teams scrambled to save their lives.