Helicopter Crash: Mahama confirms receipt of forensic reports on victims

President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed that forensic reports for all eight victims of the 6 August military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District, Ashanti Region, have now been received.

Speaking during the burial of two of the victims — Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and MP for Tamale Central, and Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator — the President explained that the reports had been received electronically, allowing for the interment to proceed.

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DNA samples of the victims had been sent to South Africa for analysis due to the severe burns sustained in the crash.

“Happily, that process was ended yesterday [August 9]. We received electronically the forensic results for our brothers [Murtala and Alhaji Muniru]. And that is why we have come to bury ahead. As I speak, the forensic reports for the rest have also arrived. In consultation with the families, we will decide how their funerals will be held. But as we said, on August 15, we will hold a state funeral for all of them,” President Mahama stated on Sunday, 10 August.

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In keeping with Islamic tradition, Janazah prayers for the two were led by the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra. They were subsequently laid to rest at the Military Cemetery near Burma Camp.

The crash claimed the lives of eight individuals.

The government declared a three-day period of national mourning, which included a flower-laying ceremony on 7 August and a memorial service on 9 August. A state funeral for all eight victims is scheduled to take place at Black Star Square in Accra on Friday, 15 August 2025.

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The Z-9 military helicopter had departed Accra at 09:12 GMT, bound for Obuasi as part of an anti-illegal mining operation. The Ghana Armed Forces later reported that the aircraft, carrying three crew members and five passengers, had gone “off the radar”. An immediate search-and-rescue mission confirmed that all on board had died.

The victims were:

• Dr Edward Omane Boamah – Minister for Defence

• Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed – Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; MP for Tamale Central

• Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed – Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator

• Dr Samuel Sarpong – National Vice Chairman of the NDC

• Samuel Aboagye – former parliamentary candidate

• Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala

• Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu

• Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah