{"id":89132,"date":"2025-08-11T04:36:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T04:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89132"},"modified":"2025-08-11T04:36:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T04:36:26","slug":"15-horrific-crashes-that-broke-the-hearts-of-ghanaians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89132","title":{"rendered":"15 horrific crashes that broke the hearts of Ghanaians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>17 Minute, 42 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, Ghanaians woke up at sunrise expecting a normal, bustling day, unaware that by sunset, they would be plunged into a national sorrow courtesy of the never-ending crashes, with the red, gold and green national flag ordered to limit its flapping and shed tears to signal all was not well.<\/p>\n

Makola was buzzing, a cocktail of smells filled the air, and market women displayed their products.<\/p>\n

Nima and Nkrumah Circle were filled with a cacophony of vendors shouting their wares, music blaring from stalls and bars, and the constant sound of vehicle horns and pedestrian traffic marked the dense Accra Metropolis.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the government was rolling out its promise of a responsible, sustainable community mining programme in Obuasi, Ghana\u2019s gold hub, to tackle the devastating illegal mining (galamsey) menace that has turned some towns into a land flowing with \u2018milk\u2019\u2014not the promised land with honey, but poisons capable of decimating flora and fauna.<\/p>\n

By midday, a dark cloud cast its shadow when the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) announced that its helicopter, carrying five government officials and three crew en route to the event from Accra, the capital, had gone off radar.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, it emerged that all occupants had burned beyond recognition after the aircraft plunged into a forest and burst into flames.<\/p>\n

The news spread like wildfire, and within hours it had reached international wires, drawing tributes from multiple presidents and international organisations in commiseration with a grieving nation.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time the nation has been brought to its knees in wailing and tears. In Ghana, one road crash could record up to 71 fatalities, a figure that approximately matches road fatalities for an entire year in other countries.<\/p>\n

These figures are not mere statistics but represent breadwinners, active age groups, energetic human resources and productive brains whose lives end abruptly.<\/p>\n

This report meticulously examines some of the deadliest crashes to have rocked the nation, drawing on extensive research on the subject and solutions.<\/p>\n

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Aviation Tragedies<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • 2025 Harbin Z-9<\/strong> Helicopter Crash (8 fatalities):<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    On August 6, 2025, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9 helicopter carrying eight people to an event to tackle illegal mining crashed into a forested mountainside in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, killing all eight people on board.<\/p>\n

    The helicopter\u2019s wreckage was later found, with all victims burned beyond recognition in a post-crash fire. The impact left the bodies charred and dismembered, requiring forensic DNA in South Africa to identify the remains.<\/p>\n

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    Among the perished souls were Ghana\u2019s Defence Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, and Environment Minister, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.<\/p>\n

    The others were the acting Deputy National Security Coordinator, Muniru Mohammed Limuna; Vice Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Sarpong; former NDC parliamentary candidate for Obuasi East, Samuel Aboagye; Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala; Flying Officer Twum Ampadu; and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.<\/p>\n

    President John Mahama had originally been scheduled to attend the event, but delegated the ministers to represent him due to a concurrent occasion.<\/p>\n

    The cause of the disaster has yet to be determined as authorities investigate the crash.<\/p>\n

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    • 2014 Oil Rig Helicopter Crash (4 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      May seems to be a month of unfortunate incidents, as four years after the May 9 Stadium Disaster that killed 126, another tragedy struck on May 9, 2014.<\/p>\n

      A helicopter contracted by the Russian oil company Lukoil, carrying eight people, crashed into the sea about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Takoradi, killing four of them.<\/p>\n

      The people on board included Ghanaians, Britons, Nigerians, and French.<\/p>\n

      Four members of the crew were rescued by the Ghana Navy with support from oil companies operating in Ghana.<\/p>\n

      The passengers were being transported to the Reon Jack, a new oil rig contracted by Lukoil that had arrived in the country to commence appraisal and development of oil discoveries made in 2011.<\/p>\n

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      • 2012 Allied Cargo Plane Crash (12 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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        Again, on June 2, 2012, a Nigeria-based Allied Cargo Airline Boeing 727-200 aircraft, with registration number 5NBJN and laden with general goods, overshot the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) runway.<\/p>\n

        It hit the facility\u2019s perimeter fence and crash-landed near the El Wak Stadium after ramming a Daewoo taxi cab and a Benz 207 passenger bus, killing 10 passengers on board the vehicles instantly.<\/p>\n

        Two other people on the ground, including a military officer who was riding a motorbike, also perished.<\/p>\n

        However, the four Nigerian crew members of the cargo plane survived the crash and were treated at the 37 Military Hospital and discharged later.<\/p>\n

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        • 2002 GAF Agusta Bell 412 helicopter<\/strong> crash (5 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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          On March 16, 2002, an Agusta Bell 412 helicopter belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces crashed in the Atiwa Forest of the Eastern Region while undertaking a medical evacuation mission. <\/p>\n

          The accident claimed the lives of five personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces and two civilians. <\/p>\n

          The helicopter had taken off from the Air Force Base in Burma Camp at about 0700 hours with an estimated flight time of about 50 minutes, but crashed on its return to Accra.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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          • 2000 Ghana Airlink Flight (7 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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            Another calamity was recorded on Monday, June 5, 2000, when an Airlink plane, a Fokker 27, on an internal flight from Tamale, crash-landed at the threshold of the runway of the Kotoka International Airport.<\/p>\n

            The crew encountered poor weather conditions with limited visibility due to heavy rainfall. In a nose-down dive, the aircraft landed hard on runway 21. Upon impact, the aircraft broke in two and came to rest.<\/p>\n

            According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives, seven people died and several others were injured. The deceased included an American and a Swiss citizen, while 46 others survived.<\/p>\n

            The Swiss citizen, Madam Lanz, worked with the Ghana Institute of Literary and Bible Translation (GILBT). The body of Kenneth Rossen, the American passenger on board the Airlink flight 200, was flown back home.<\/p>\n

            The deceased\u2019s daughter, Megan Rossen, who survived the crash, an official of the 37 Military Hospital, and other family members who flew in, accompanied the body.<\/p>\n

            A nine-member board of inquiry, headed by Mr. Alex Sam, a retired pilot and former Managing Director of Ghana Airways, was set up to investigate the cause of the incident.<\/p>\n

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            • 1997 Ghana Air Force Jet (1 fatality)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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              The third May calamity in this series occurred on May 8, 1997.<\/p>\n

              A Ghana Air Force jet accompanying then-President Jerry John Rawlings\u2019s aircraft crashed near Kotoka International Airport (KIA) after escorting the president\u2019s plane back from Botswana. The crash resulted in the death of the pilot.<\/p>\n

              According to eyewitnesses, as the presidential plane touched down at KIA, the Air Force jet, which appeared to have come in alongside it, tried unsuccessfully to climb out of an acrobatic dive but apparently lost control and crashed nearby.<\/p>\n

              The presidential plane then made what was seen as a forced braking to a stop, seemingly to enable Rawlings and others on the plane to dash out to see what help they could offer.<\/p>\n

              Rawlings later joined a rescue team in a helicopter to locate the body of the late Squadron Leader Samuel Dwamena. Newsmen who joined in an aerial view of the disaster spot reported that the plane had exploded, scattering its parts over a vast area.<\/p>\n

              According to The Ghanaian Times<\/em>, some scattered parts were located far away, close to the main tarmac.<\/p>\n

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              • 1978 Aeroplane crash near Takoradi ( 4 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                \"15<\/figure>\n

                On November 13, 1978, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, registered as TR-LTQ and operated by Air Inter Gabon, crashed and killed all four occupants.<\/p>\n

                According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives, the twin engine airplane departed Port Gentil, Gabon, on a charter flight to the Ivory Coast, carrying three passengers and a pilot. En route, it crashed in unknown circumstances in a wooded area located west of Takoradi, near the border between Ghana and Ivory Coast. <\/p>\n

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                • 1969 Takoradi Airport Crash (1 fatality)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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                  On April 24, 1969, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3) with registration 9G-AAF, owned by Ghana Airways, crashed, killing one person and seriously injuring several others. <\/p>\n

                  The pilot-in-command elected to make an emergency landing, and the aeroplane crash-landed a few kilometres short of the runway threshold.<\/p>\n

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                  According to the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives, on final approach to Takoradi Airport from Accra, both engines stopped simultaneously.<\/p>\n

                  A passenger was killed, while a few others were wounded, some of them seriously.<\/p>\n

                  The exact cause of the engine failure remains unclear, but the assumption that it was caused by fuel exhaustion or contaminated fuel was not ruled out.<\/p>\n

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                  Devastating Road and Rail Disasters<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                  • 1981 Train Derailment (21 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    January 14, 1981, went down as one of the darkest days in the country\u2019s history when an express train derailed between Accra and Kumasi, killing at least 21 people and injuring about 200.<\/p>\n

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                    • 2025 Fuel Tanker Crash near Juaso (16 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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                      The Accra\u2013Kumasi highway, often cited as one of Ghana\u2019s most dangerous roads, was the scene of another deadly crash on Monday, July 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

                      The fatal collision involved a Ford Transit Bus with registration number GT 4674-22 and a DAF XF articulated tanker truck with registration number GT 1674-17.<\/p>\n

                      \"15<\/figure>\n

                      The fuel tanker\u2019s tyre burst, causing it to veer into an oncoming minibus and kill 16 young members of the Saviour Church Youth Ministry who were returning from a church conference in Koforidua.<\/p>\n

                      This incident led to renewed calls from legislators and the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) for urgent government intervention to improve road safety on the highway.<\/p>\n

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                      • 2022 Apiate Explosion (17 fatalities)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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                        \u00a0In a catastrophic event that began with a road crash on January 20, 2022, a vehicle carrying mining explosives collided with a motorcycle in the town of Apiate, near Bogoso in the Western Region.<\/p>\n

                        The resulting explosion killed at least 17 people and levelled the entire community.<\/p>\n

                        A total of 3,300 people were affected, and some 59 were injured.<\/p>\n

                        Reports from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) indicated that 500 buildings were destroyed by the blast, and approximately 1,500 people were left homeless.<\/p>\n