Authorities have confirmed that 8 people who included two government Ministers were killed when a Military Helicopter crashed in Ghana today August 6th
The Ghana Minister of Defense Edward Omane Boamah and that of Environment Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed alongside the Vice Chairman of the ruling party National Democratic Congress Samuel Sarpong, the Deputy National Security Coordinator and former Agriculture Minister Alhaji Muniru Mohammed and 3 crew members died in the crash.
The Ghanian military said the helicopter took off in the morning from the capital, Accra, and was heading northwest into the interior toward the gold-mining area of Obuasi in the Ashanti region for a national event when it went off the radar and the wreckage was later found in the Adansi area of Ashanti.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, and the military said an investigation was underway.
The Ghana Government has described the crash of an Z-9 helicopter that is often used for transport and medical evacuation as a “national tragedy” and one of Ghana’s worst air disasters in more than a decade.
In May 2014, a service helicopter crashed off the coast, killing at least three people while in 2012, a cargo plane overran the runway in Accra and crashed into a bus full of passengers, killing at least 10 people.
The Ghana Chief of Staff Julius Debrah told journalists that he has ordered to fly the country’s flags at half-mast and expressed condolences on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama and the government to the soldiers who died in the service of the country.
Additional Reporting from Associated Press.
