Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang Sunday urged Ghanaians to abide by the law and act responsibly to help prevent avoidable disasters.

“As we stand here, we are told that somebody is trapped in there. Why should this happen? Because somebody did not do the right thing. Once people step out to do the right thing, all of us should support them,” she said.

The Vice President made the remarks when she visited the scene of a collapsed four-storey building at the Avenor Industrial Area in Accra in the early hours of Sunday.

Two persons are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

Vice President Opoku-Agyemang was accompanied by Mr Muntaka Mubarak-Mohammed, Minister for the Interior; Mrs Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, Greater Accra Regional Minister; and Mr Michael Kpakpo Allotey, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive.

She stressed the importance of accountability in the construction sector, noting that strict compliance with building regulations was essential to safeguarding lives and property.

Society must commend individuals and institutions that acted responsibly and speak out against wrongdoing that could lead to disasters, she noted.

Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the Ghana Armed Forces and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) were at the scene carrying out rescue operations.

Mr Alex King Nartey, Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, said the Service received a distress call about the incident at about 0500 hours and arrived at the scene within five minutes.

He said two people had so far been rescued from the collapsed structure, while efforts were ongoing to reach the others trapped.

Mr Nartey said rescue teams were creating access routes through the debris to facilitate the operation.

He noted that a mosque and some shops located behind the building had also been damaged by the collapse.

Preliminary assessments indicated that the building lacked structural integrity, which may have contributed to the collapse, he said.