No Fewer Than Six Perish in Crowd Crush at Ghana Armed Forces Enlistment Drive
At least six people have lost their lives amid a crowd crush at a military recruitment gathering held in a stadium in Ghana.
The midweek "tragic" incident appeared to have been caused by "a sudden rush of applicants who breached security protocols and stormed the entrances," announced a release from the nation's military.
Twenty-two additional individuals were injured, among them five who are in serious state.
Thousands had turned up at El-Wak stadium, in the main city, Accra, with the aspiration of enlisting in the military.
Ghana has a rate of joblessness among young people of about thirty-two percent, the most recent government statistics indicate, and such enlistment drives normally attract large crowds and frequently lead to chaotic scenes.
The deadline to apply for this recruitment was prolonged for a seven days to accommodate additional candidates, as some had experienced difficulties in the process.
Military representative Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin said the stampede took place before the event's scheduled start of 6:20 AM Greenwich Mean Time.
The nation's leader John Mahama has visited the injured in medical care.
Order has been restored, and the enlistment process has now begun.
