Ghana ministers, ruling party official killed in army helicopter crash

The crash of a military helicopter in Ghana on Wednesday killed all eight people aboard including the West African country's defense and environment ministers and other top officials, the government said.

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.