Regional News of Monday, 26 April 2010

Source: GNA

KNUST set up Committee to inspect structures

Kumasi, April 26, GNA - The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has set up a three-member Committee of Structural Engineers to conduct geotechnical inspection of all structures at the Hal= ls of Residence on the campus.

The move comes barely 48 hours after the tragic death of a Level 100 Business Administration student, Eva Alordina, when a concrete canopy walkway collapsed on her. Another student, Gertrude Kyere Davies, who together with the decea= sed was trapped by the falling slab, is on admission at Komfo Anokye Teaching=

Hospital with serious injuries.

Mr Solomon Panford, the Deputy Registrar, in a signed statement, sa= id the decision on the inspection was taken at an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of the University. The Committee had been mandated to determine what caused the canopy= to cave in and to make recommendations to the University Council after the inspection of the Halls. The statement urged students, parents and guardians not to panic as= a result of the unfortunate incident saying, the University was working aro= und the clock to prevent any such accident.

It conveyed KNUST's condolences to the deceased family and asked th= e media to be more circumspect in its handling of the tragedy. The last time a geotechnical inspection was conducted on the structures, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered, was in 1990.