A helicopter crash has killed 8 people including the nation’s defence and environment ministers, according to Ghana’s government.
Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the victims of the crash in the southern Ashanti region of the country, said Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff to President John Mahama, on Wednesday.
“The president and the government extend their condolences and solidarity to the families of our comrades and soldiers who fell in their service to the nation,” said Debrah.
Also among the victims were Alhaji Muniru Muhammad, Deputy National Security Coordinator and former Minister of Agriculture, and Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of President Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.
The Ghanaian Air Force had reported earlier Wednesday that a military helicopter had disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Accra at around 09:00 (local time and GMT), bound for Obuasi, north-west of the capital.
Debrah announced that flags would be flown at half-mast.
The Presidency said that Mahama had suspended all his official activities for the day.
More to come…
