A military helicopter crash in Ghana on Wednesday has claimed the lives of all eight people on board, including the country’s Defence Minister, Edward Omane Boamah, and Environment Minister, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.
The helicopter, a Z-9 model commonly used for transport and medical evacuation, departed from the capital, Accra, en route to Obuasi in the Ashanti region when it lost contact with radar. Its wreckage was later discovered in the Adansi area of Ashanti, with debris seen burning in a forest, according to footage circulating online.
Also among the dead were the vice-chair of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), a senior national security adviser, and the aircraft’s crew members. The cause of the crash remains unknown, and the military has launched an investigation.
Describing the incident as a “national tragedy,” the government said mourners have begun gathering at the late Defence Minister’s home and the NDC headquarters.
This marks one of Ghana’s worst aviation disasters in over a decade. Previous incidents include a 2014 helicopter crash off the coast that killed at least three, and a deadly 2012 cargo plane crash in Accra that claimed 10 lives.
