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The crash was one of Ghana’s worst air disasters in more than a
decade.
The Ghanaian 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 when it went off the radar. 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.
Defense Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister
Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were killed, as well as Samuel Sarpong,
vice-chair of the National Democratic Congress ruling party,
Muniru Mohammed, a top national security adviser, and the four
crew members.
Mourners gathered at the Boamah's residence as well as at the
party's headquarters, and Ghana’s government described the crash
as a “national tragedy.”
State media reported that the aircraft was a Z-9 helicopter that
is often used for transport and medical evacuation.
An online video of the crash site shows debris on fire in a
forest as some people circle around to help.
In May 2014, a service helicopter crashed off Ghana's coast,
killing at least three people. In 2012, a cargo plane overran
the runway in Accra, the capital, and crashed into a bus full of
passengers, killing at least 10 people.
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Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Dakar, Senegal,
contributed to this report.
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