A helicopter crash has k!lled Ghana’s defence and environment ministers.

Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among eight victims of the crash in the southern Ashanti region of the country, said Julius Debrah, chief of staff to President John Mahama, on Wednesday, August 6.

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.

“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 Mohammad Muniru Limuna, deputy national security coordinator and former minister of agriculture, and Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.

Boamah became President John Mahama’s defence minister earlier this year shortly after Mahama’s swearing-in in January.

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 citizens circle around to help.

Wednesday’s crash was 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. 

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