Families of victims must be compensated - Human Rights Lawyer

pulse-ghana admin 16:06 - 01 February 2017

Francis-Xavier Sosu, a Human Rights Lawyer wants the families of six kindergarten pupils who died in a school building collapse compensated.

Human Rights Lawyer, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has beckoned on Nana Akufo-Addo’s government to adequately compensate the families of six kindergarten pupils who died when their school building collapsed on them on Tuesday.

The lawyer expressed heartbreak at the accident and said nothing could replace the lives that had been lost but the government must do the honorable thing to ease the pain of the affected families.

Six kindergarten pupils were reported dead after a classroom block of the Gyambra Methodist School in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District of the Central Region collapsed on them.

The pupils were said to be playing behind the classroom block when the dilapidated building collapsed.

Three pupils of the school who suffered severe injuries are in critical conditions and have been admitted at the Our Lady of Grace Hospital at Breman-Asikuma.

Mr. Sosu, speaking to ClassFM’s on Wednesday, 1 February, said: “The school as a facility owes a duty to the children and clearly that duty was negligently breached not only by the school but the state as an entity to protect these children in that facility.”

“The state has the ultimate duty to compensate for the loss of lives of these children,” Mr. Sosu said, adding that it was the duty of the District Assembly to ensure the building was safe for use."

For him, government must not wait for any legal action but should be proactive and show empathy with the bereaved families and also ensure that officials who are responsible for the safety of the facility are sanctioned.