A military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District of Ghana’s Ashanti Region has claimed the lives of eight people, including two senior government ministers, in what is being described as one of the country’s deadliest aviation incidents in recent years.
Ghana’s Defence Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, and the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, were confirmed dead after their Z-9 military helicopter went off radar while en route to Obuasi from Accra. The tragic news was confirmed by government sources to AfrikPage late Wednesday afternoon.
The aircraft, operated by the Ghana Armed Forces, was carrying eight individuals—three crew members and five passengers—when it lost contact shortly after takeoff. Among the passengers were a presidential staffer identified as Samuel Sarpong, security personnel, and the two deceased ministers.
Emergency teams were dispatched to the crash site immediately after the helicopter went missing. Graphic footage and images appeared to show the charred wreckage and remains of several victims. However, authorities have not yet released an official list of all the deceased or injured.
An earlier press release from the Ghana Armed Forces had announced the helicopter’s disappearance and confirmed that search operations were underway. Signed by Acting Director of Public Relations, Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin, the statement appealed to media outlets to help disseminate the alert.
The Z-9 model involved in the crash is typically used by the military for transport and medical evacuations. Though the exact cause of the accident remains unclear, experts suggest technical failure or adverse weather could have contributed.
