No Fewer Than 6 Lose Their Lives in Crowd Crush at Ghana Military Recruitment Event
At least 6 people have died during a stampede at a armed forces enlistment gathering held in a stadium in the West African nation.
The midweek "devastating" incident appeared to have been triggered by "an unexpected surge of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the gates," announced a statement from the nation's military.
Twenty-two others were injured, including five who remain in critical condition.
Thousands had turned up at the El-Wak sports venue, in the capital, Accra, with the aspiration of joining the armed forces.
The country has a rate of joblessness among young people of approximately 32%, the most recent government statistics indicate, and such recruitment events normally attract large crowds and frequently lead to chaotic scenes.
The deadline to submit applications for this event was prolonged for a seven days to accommodate additional candidates, as some had faced challenges in the process.
Army spokesperson Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin said the stampede occurred ahead of the event's scheduled start of 6:20 AM Greenwich Mean Time.
The nation's leader President John Mahama has visited the injured in medical care.
Order has been restored, and the recruitment exercise has now begun.
