At Least Six Lose Their Lives in Crowd Crush at Ghanaian Armed Forces Enlistment Event
At least six people have died amid a stampede at a military recruitment gathering held in a stadium in Ghana.
The Wednesday's "tragic" event seems to have been triggered by "an unexpected surge of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the gates," stated a release from the nation's military.
Twenty-two others were injured, among them 5 who are in serious state.
A large crowd had gathered at El-Wak stadium, in the main city, the capital, with the aspiration of joining the armed forces.
Ghana has a rate of joblessness among young people of about thirty-two percent, the most recent government statistics show, and such enlistment drives normally attract large crowds and often result in chaotic scenes.
The deadline to apply for this recruitment was prolonged for a seven days to allow for more applicants, as a number had faced difficulties in the application procedure.
Military representative Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin said the crush occurred before the event's scheduled start of 06:20 GMT.
The nation's leader President John Mahama has visited the injured in hospital.
Order has been restored, and the recruitment exercise has since begun.
