A torrential rainfall which struck the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality in the Ashanti Region over the weekend has displaced over 3,000 pupils, disrupting academic activities.
Fast-forward to Monday, the dining hall of the Ejuraman Senior High School (SHS) collapsed onto the students during supper, injuring about forty of them, of whom five were in severely condition and were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
The nocturnal development has compelled the students to study in deplorable classroom blocks after the rainstorm ripped off the roofs of six Junior High School buildings.
The Municipal Fire Commander for Ejura-Sekyedumase, DO III Isaac Adu Yaw, told the media that they suspected the dining hall was weakened after a heavy rainstorm over the weekend (Friday).
Nevertheless Adu Yaw indicated that the place had been cordoned off for investigations to take place.
He disclosed that, so far, forty people had been injured, with five of them sustaining multiple fractures, and the remaining thirty-five discharged.
In an eyewitness account, a student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed to the media that at about five o’clock in the evening they went to the dining hall to eat, and whilst seated it begun to rain.
He continued that during the meal the roof of the dining hall collapsed on them.
“Some of us managed to escape, but others could not, resulting in injuries,” the student disclosed.
The Municipal Education Director, Mr. Kwasi Frimpong Haruna, indicated that much as the authorities were doing their best to salvage the situation, it had affected academic activities in the municipality.
He further revealed that the situation was so dire that some students were studying in makeshift structures under the vagaries of the weather.
Mr. Haruna disclosed that the Education Directorate had sent an SOS to the Forestry Department of Ejura-Sekyedumase requesting 3,000 pieces of wood, but the entire work would need a lot of resources, and appealed to the government and benevolent organisations to come to their aid.
