Ghana: Death toll in June 3 disaster now 159

Seven more bodies have been recovered after the June 3 disaster which had earlier claimed 152 lives in Accra, Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has indicated. This brings to 159 the number of people confirmed dead from the twin flood and fire disaster.

Recounting the Accra twin disaster that rocked the country on June 3, 2015, Mr Amissah-Arthur said currently there were about 34 patients on admission at the 37 Military, the Ridge, the Police and the Korle Bu Teaching hospitals.

Briefing development partners on the current situation at the Flagstaff House in Accra Wednesday, the Vice-President said there were additional 70 outpatients with various injuries seeking medical attention at the hospitals.

The meeting with the development partners was for the government to formally inform them about the disaster and also seek their support to avert a future occurrence. Mr Amissah-Arthur told the partners that the government wanted to unravel the cause of the disaster and in so doing develop mechanisms to parent a recurrence.

He used the occasion to again commiserate with the bereaved families and reaffirmed the government’s pledge to underwrite the medical bills of the victims.

A drainage engineer, Mr Wise Ametefe, who made a presentation on the drainage system in Accra to the partners, said there were inadequate water channels in the Accra metropolis, which made it impossible for flood water to flow freely.

He observed that the interceptor at the Korle Lagoon needed to be cleared to pave way for easy passage of water and that the parking of cars on the banks of the channels was a contributory factor to the flooding phenomenon.

Mr Ametepe underscored the need to desilt the Odaw River to help prevent another disaster in the city

The acting Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Brigadier General Francis Vib-Sanziri, told the Daily Graphic that his office was currently collaborating with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to respond to the reported cases of cholera in Accra following the disaster.

He remarked that NADMO’s immediate response was the distribution of relief items to the affected people and trying to prevent an epidemic from breaking out in those areas.

Brigadier General Vib-Sanziri added that NADMO was trying to mobilise various teams in sectors such as the ministries of Health and Education to plan how to respond to the disaster.

He pointed out that not only was Accra affected by the recent floods, but NADMO was also receiving concerns from and sending relief items to the various regions that had also been affected by floods.

Thursday 18 June 2015

http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/44831-death-toll-in-june-3-disaster-now-159-veep.html