No Fewer Than 6 Perish in Stampede at Ghanaian Military Recruitment Event
No fewer than 6 individuals have lost their lives amid a crowd crush at a military recruitment gathering held in a stadium in Ghana.
The Wednesday's "tragic" event appeared to have been caused by "an unexpected surge of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the gates," announced a release from Ghana's armed forces.
Twenty-two additional individuals were hurt, among them 5 who are in serious state.
A large crowd had turned up at El-Wak stadium, in the capital, Accra, with the aspiration of enlisting in the military.
The country has a rate of joblessness among young people of about thirty-two percent, the latest official data indicate, and such recruitment events normally attract large crowds and often result in disorderly situations.
The closing date to apply for this recruitment was prolonged for a week to allow for more applicants, as a number had faced difficulties in the application procedure.
Army spokesperson Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin stated the stampede occurred before the event's scheduled start of 06:20 GMT.
Ghana's President John Mahama has visited the wounded in hospital.
Calm has been reestablished, and the recruitment exercise has now begun.
