Helicopter crash in Ghana kills 8 people including defense and environment ministers
The Ghanian 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 alongside the vice-chair of the National Democratic Congress ruling party, a top national security adviser, and 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 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. In 2012, a cargo plane overran the runway in Accra and crashed into a bus full of passengers, killing at least 10 people.
____
Chinedu Asadu contributed from Dakar, Senegal
____
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
27 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Man charged with killing a top Minnesota House Democrat is expected to plead not guilty
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is expected to plead not guilty when he's arraigned in federal court on Thursday, his attorney said. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted July 15 on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away. As they announced the indictment, prosecutors released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the June 14 shootings of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. However, the letter doesn't make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived. Boelter's federal defender, Manny Atwal, said at the time that the weighty charges did not come as a surprise, but she has not commented on the substance of the allegations or any defense strategies. The hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster will also serve as a case management conference. She plans to issue a revised schedule with deadlines afterward, potentially including a trial date. Prosecutors have moved to designate the proceedings as a 'complex case' so that standard speedy trial requirements won't apply, saying both sides will need plenty of time to review the voluminous evidence. 'The investigation of this case arose out of the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history," they wrote. "Accordingly, the discovery to be produced by the government will include a substantial amount of investigative material and reports from more than a dozen different law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.' They said the evidence will include potentially thousands of hours of video footage, tens of thousands of pages of responses to dozens of grand jury subpoenas, and data from numerous electronic devices seized during the investigation. Boelter's motivations remain murky. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. Authorities said Boelter made long lists of politicians in Minnesota and other states — all or mostly Democrats. In a series of cryptic notes to The New York Times through his jail's electronic messaging service, Boelter suggested his actions were partly rooted in the Christian commandment to love one's neighbor. 'Because I love my neighbors prior to June 14th I conducted a 2 year long undercover investigation,' he wrote. In messages published earlier by the New York Post, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to elaborate. 'There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism,' the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters last month. He also reiterated that prosecutors consider Hortman's killing a 'political assassination.' Prosecutors say Boelter was disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car early June 14 when he went to the Hoffmans' home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He shot the senator nine times, and his wife eight times, officials said. Boelter later went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them, authorities said. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered the next night.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro backs Trump's DC takeover threat and demand for lower prosecution age limit: ‘Stop coddling!'
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in an interview Wednesday that she supports President Trump's threat to federalize Washington, DC, if local officials don't crack down on youth crime – arguing that juvenile delinquents are 'coddled' in cities run by Democrats. Pirro, the top prosecutor in the nation's capital, fumed that she's not allowed to charge minors accused of violent crimes and backed Trump's push to lower the age of legal accountability to as young as 14, in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 3 Pirro noted that youth crime is on the rise in DC and fumed that she is unable to prosecute most minor offenders. AP 'I support him totally,' Pirro said of Trump's warning Tuesday that he would bring the District of Columbia under federal control if laws aren't changed to prosecute minors as adults. 'If that's what we need to do to get it done, that's what he should do. And I support the president.' 'He's the only one coming here saying, 'I want to make [DC] safe and beautiful.' I haven't heard anyone say that besides him,' Pirro added. During her appearance on 'The Ingraham Angle,' the former Fox News host and New York district attorney noted that she spoke to Trump on Tuesday – when he issued the takeover threat – and explained the situation in DC. 'I said, if you're 14, 15, 16, or 17-years-old, you get coddled, as you do in most American Democrat cities, so I can't charge these people,' Pirro explained. The US attorney went on to describe the early Sunday morning assault of former DOGE employee Edward Coristine, who was beaten up by as many as 10 assailants during an attempted carjacking just a mile from the White House, and how her hands are tied in that situation as well. 'This young kid who worked at the White House was beaten to a pulp … by a gang of punks,' Pirro said of the attack on the 19-year-old tech whiz nicknamed 'Big Balls.' 3 Trump threatened to federalize Washington, DC, Tuesday after a former DOGE employee was beaten up by teenagers during a carjacking attempt in the nation's capital. Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump 3 Pirro said she supports Trump's call for DC officials to crack down on juvenile crime. AFP via Getty Images Two of Coristine's alleged attackers – a 15-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl, both from Maryland – have been arrested by DC police. 'None of them come to my office because they're not considered criminals,' Pirro railed. 'They go to family court, where the effort is rehabilitation.' 'The DC Council – and the president is right – they've got to stop their coddling,' the top prosecutor demanded. 'We've got to lower the age of responsibility to 14.' 'If you think that these kids need to be coddled and they need to be hugged – they need to have consequences. They need to understand that enough is enough,' Pirro continued. 'If you tell me I can't prosecute a 17-year-old for carjacking, then you don't know what you're talking about, because the truth is that if you don't give me that power, and you want to send them to some arts and craft program, then you're out of your mind.'
NBC News
4 hours ago
- NBC News
Helicopter crash in Ghana kills ministers of defense and environment and 6 others
ACCRA, Ghana — A military helicopter crashed in Ghana on Wednesday, killing all eight people on board, including the West African country's defense and environment ministers and two other top officials, the government said. 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.
