At Least Six Perish in Crowd Crush at Ghanaian Military Recruitment Event
At least 6 people have lost their lives during a crowd crush at a armed forces enlistment event held in a sports arena in the West African nation.
The Wednesday's "tragic" incident appeared to have been caused by "a sudden rush of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the entrances," announced a release from the nation's military.
22 others were injured, among them 5 who remain in critical condition.
A large crowd had turned up at El-Wak stadium, in the main city, Accra, with the aspiration of enlisting in the armed forces.
Ghana has a youth unemployment rate of about thirty-two percent, the latest official data show, and such recruitment events typically draw large crowds and frequently result in chaotic scenes.
The closing date to submit applications for this event was extended by a week to allow for more applicants, as a number had faced difficulties in the application procedure.
Army spokesperson Capt Veronica Adzo Arhin said the stampede took place ahead of the event's scheduled start of 6:20 AM Greenwich Mean Time.
Ghana's President John Mahama has gone to see the injured in hospital.
Order has been restored, and the recruitment exercise has now begun.
