Two Ghanaian ministers among 8 killed in Helicopter crash

Two Ghana ministers killed in copter crash. Defence Minister Edward O-mane Boa-mah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Mur-tala Muhammed were among five passengers aboard the chopper, when it crashed en route from Accra to the town of Obu-asi. The presidency on Wednesday said, after the air force chopper carrying three crew and five passengers came down in a forest in the south. Mur-tala was scheduled to attend the UN talks currently underway in Geneva aimed at hammering out a landmark global treaty on combating the scourge of plastic pollution.Ghanaian media reported that the helicopter was on its way to an event on illegal mining -- a major environmental issue in the west African country.

The Ghanaian Armed Forces said investigations had been launched to determine the cause of the crash of the Z9 helicopter. The military had reported earlier Wednesday that an air force helicopter had dropped off the radar after taking off from Accra just after 9:00 am local time (0900 GMT). It had been headed towards the town of Obuasi, northwest of the capital. Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Ghana's deputy national security coordinator and former agriculture minister, was also among the dead, along with Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama's National Democratic Congress party. President Mahama suspended all his scheduled activities for the rest of the week and declared three days of mourning starting Thursday with all flags to be flown at half-mast, his office said.

According to initial reports, the military helicopter vanished from radar screens just minutes after taking off from Accra en route to Obuasi, a town in the Ashanti Region. The helicopter took off at 9:00 a.m. local time, and communication with air traffic control was lost shortly thereafter. Local media published images of the crash site showing the mangled wreckage of the aircraft in a remote area.