BY Issah Olegor
Sikaman Brofoyeduru, a quiet farming community in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region, has been unsettled, with a scene of grief, tension, and sombre anticipation following Wednesday’s tragic military helicopter crash that claimed eight lives, including two cabinet ministers and senior military officers.
Emergency response teams, security personnel, and investigators have converged on the area, working under a heavy emotional cloud as they prepare to recover and evacuate the charred remains of the victims.
According to report two, choppers were dispatched from Accra to the community but returned back due to the weather conditions.
The crash site remains under strict military cordon, with access limited to authorised personnel as the Ghana Armed Forces continues its investigation.
Eyewitnesses say the wreckage still bears the marks of the inferno that consumed the aircraft after impact.
The mangled frame of the Z-9 military helicopter, now a blackened shell, lies in stark contrast to the green fields surrounding it.
The smell of burnt metal and jet fuel lingers in the air, a grim reminder of the deadly force of the crash.
Community members have gathered at a respectful distance, some offering silent prayers, while others stand in quiet disbelief.
“We have never seen anything like this before,” one resident told reporters. “It’s a very sad day for Ghana.”
Background to the Tragedy
The crash occurred in the morning of Wednesday, August 6, 2025, when a Ghana Air Force Z-9 helicopter, en route to Obuasi, lost radar contact and went down in the rural Adansi Akrofuom area.
Among those killed were Defence Minister Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Muniru Mohammed, senior NDC figure Dr Samuel Sarpong, and former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, along with three military crew members.
This latest tragedy comes just over a year after a military helicopter made an emergency landing in Bonsukrom in the Western Region in March 2024 — an incident that, while fatality-free, reignited calls for heightened safety checks and fleet upgrades in Ghana’s military aviation operations.
National Response
The crash has prompted an outpouring of grief across the country, with President John Dramani Mahama ordering all national flags to fly at half-mast until further notice.
