The otherwise quiet Breman Gyambra community was yesterday thrown into a sombre mood, as both the young and the old wore black to mourn with the bereaved families of the six kindergarten (KG) pupils who died last Tuesday.

Part of the classroom block of the Breman Gyambra Methodist Basic School collapsed on the pupils, killing them instantly.

Before the burial ceremony began, many residents, who could not hold back their emotions, wept uncontrollably.

Although yesterday was market day, business activities were slow, since most members of the community, as well as adjoining ones, abandoned their economic activities in solidarity with the victims whose death they described as painful and needless.

People gathered in groups to discuss the incident, with some raising issues about the inability of the community and the government to take the necessary steps to avert the tragedy.

Some sympathisers at the burial grounds

Burial rites

Two of the deceased, who were Muslims, were buried according to Islamic tradition, while the remaining four who were Christians were laid to rest accordingly.

The victims, all females, have been identified as Hannah Mensah and Joana Ayensu, both six years; Christiana Amponsah, seven; Gladys Ampofo, three; Shaidatu Abdulai, four, and Hibatullai Abdulai, five.

A seventh victim, whose name was not readily available, survived the incident and is said to be responding to treatment at the Our Lady of Grace Catholic Hospital at Breman Asikuma.

The body of one of the Muslim pupils being carried to the cemetery

Burial place

There was a misunderstanding over where to bury the victims. While the elders wanted them to be buried at the public cemetery, some of the youth wanted the dead to be interred on the school compound.

According to them, burying the pupils on the school compound would enable the school to hold annual memorial services for them.

However, the chiefs disagreed and ordered that the victims be buried at the public cemetery, a declaration which paved the way for the burial service.  

 The coffins of the four Christian pupils in the grave

No school

There were no academic activities in most of the public and private basic schools in the town, since fear had gripped most of the pupils. Most of them were spotted in their school uniforms to bid a final farewell to their departed mates.

Majority of them wept and had to be consoled by their mates and their teachers.

State of classroom block

A careful inspection of the collapsed block showed that the pre-school pupils had, indeed, been studying in a death trap for many years.

 The block, according to information gathered from the community, was constructed by the community in the 1990s and had not seen any major renovation since.

It had developed deep cracks, with no pillars to support it, which posed a threat to the lives of its occupants.

The entire primary block is also in a very poor state and if immediate action is not taken, a similar incident may occur again in the school.

Meanwhile, a new KG block which is under construction is at the foundation level.

Account

Mr Samuel Egyir, a citizen of the town, said in an interview that the tragic incident occurred around 8:50 a.m. when information went viral that the KG block had collapsed.

According to him, he quickly rushed to the school, since he had two siblings in the kindergarten, to find out if they had  been affected.

He noted that information he gathered was that the bell was rung for the pupils to go out and pay their feeding fees, while some of the pupils were playing outside the building.

He said in the course of that exercise, part of the block collapsed, killing four of the pupils on the spot. Two others who were rescued died on the way to hospital.

He claimed that since 2014, the PTA of the school had recommended the relocation of the pupils from the block but that was not done.

He blamed the elders of the town for looking on unconcerned until the tragedy occurred.