At Least Six Perish in Crowd Crush at Ghana Military Recruitment Drive
At least 6 people have died during a stampede at a military recruitment event held in a stadium in the West African nation.
The Wednesday's "tragic" incident seems to have been triggered by "an unexpected surge of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the entrances," announced a release from the nation's military.
Twenty-two additional individuals were hurt, including 5 who are in critical condition.
Thousands had gathered at the El-Wak sports venue, in the capital, the capital, 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 government statistics show, and such enlistment drives normally draw massive gatherings and often result in 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 application procedure.
Army spokesperson Capt Veronica Adzo Arhin said the stampede occurred before the event's scheduled start of 6:20 AM Greenwich Mean Time.
The nation's leader John Mahama has gone to see the wounded in medical care.
Calm has been reestablished, and the recruitment exercise has now started.
