On Wednesday, a multistory shopping mall collapsed in the capital of Ghana, killing and injuring many people. The building was being rented by an Indian mall franchise-owner and was apparently built without city approval, suggesting why the structure was so poor. At least nine bodies have been found and over 70 survivors dragged from the wreckage, thanks to the work of rescue teams including an Israeli rescue unit. Initial reports of those inside only took into account mall employees, not shoppers, so the numbers could be even higher than predicted.
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| Accra, Ghana |
Random Kate Thoughts: This is clearly a national tragedy for Ghana. Poor building standards are rampart throughout Africa. When people in America talk about government regulation in a negative way, I like to remember how safe we feel in buildings in the states, knowing the government has ensured that they will not crumble to the ground in seconds with no external cause.
On a somewhat tangential note and not to belittle the losses, I usually like allafrica.com for news, but I tend to not trust them when they cannot make up their own mind about how many stories this building had. Check out the picture below:
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| Make up your minds, guys |
BLOG NOTE: Apologies for missing Wednesday and Thursday's posts. I've been really sick, culminating with a trip to the hospital last night, so I'm hopefully on the up-swing now. I'll be back to you with daily posts again asap.
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