The District Chief Executive for Asene Manso Akroso District of the Eastern Region, Alex Inkoom has in an interview disclosed plans to initiate a full-scale investigation into the case of the collapsed church in the Region.

Speaking to JoyNews’ Evans Mensah on News Night, he stated that the investigation will help provide answers to the factors that might have caused the collapse of the building on the church members, claiming their lives.

“Now the focus is to recover, if we are lucky to have live bodies (sic), we send then to the hospital for treatment, if we have any dead bodies, we take them to the morgue, after that, a full scale investigation will happen and then we can come up with a full report that answers to the actual cause of this disaster," he said.

He, however, added that it will be "pre-mature" to blame his assembly for negligence on the collapse of the 24-year-old building, as he took office only 2 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) has blamed the collapse of a three-storey church in Akim Batabi on the Building Inspectorate Department of the Akim Municipal Assembly.

It said the Department failed in its duties to ascertain the structural condition of the 25-year-old building.

An architect, Sampson Deklu, on behalf of the Bureau, recommended that in order to avoid similar happenings from occurring in the near future, there should be an assessment of such weak buildings across the country.

“Moving forward, we will ask the Building Inspectorate Department of the Assembly to ensure that evaluations are run on all buildings of akin condition, to certify their state of safety for occupants,” he said.

The Church of Prosperity in the Eastern Region collapsed on Tuesday evening, with a reported number of about 45 to 60 inhabitants.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfuor confirmed to Joy News that 9 persons were found dead and their bodies have been deposited at the Oda Government Hospital mortuary.

According to him, 8 others retrieved sustained severe injuries and are receiving treatment at the Regional Hospital

He also noted that the exact number of persons still trapped under the debris is still unknown.

The rescue team was made up of NADMO officials, Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the police, soldiers from jungle warfare, fire personnel and local volunteers who had to wait for appropriate equipment from Accra to be used in the exercise.