A six-unit pavilion of the Nkurankan Presby Primary School at Nkurankan in the Eastern Region, has collapsed, injuring five women.
The incident occurred around 4:00pm on Saturday, after a downpour pulled down the 70-year old dilapidated school building.
Narrating the incident to Citi News, a resident, Williams Otibu, said “it was raining with heavy winds and all we saw was that the building collapsed. It hosts primary one to six, and it is A and B so the lower primary collapsed. School was not in session at the time, but there were five women seeking refuge under the structure and they got trapped under it but only sustained some bruises.”
The Nkrankan Presby primary school hosts over three hundred (300) pupils, and this is not the first time such an incident has occurred.
Mr. Otibu explains that, the “the school is about 70 years old and the upper primary facility was pulled down about thirty years ago due to the danger it posed to pupils then. This new structure was put up, but unfortunately that also grew weaker. After we complained several times, the school authorities said they will come and work on it till eventually everything went down.”
He added that “the school was not in session as the time the incident happened, but this means from Monday a session of the school (primary one to six) cannot operate because the pupils will have nowhere to sit.”
Meanwhile, another dilapidated building situated close to the collapsed building, has become a death trap, and residents fear it might also collapse if nothing is done about it.
All attempts to get the headteacher of the school to comment on the issue proved futile.
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By: Farida Shaibu/Citifmonline.com/Ghana