6 remaining helicopter crash victims to be buried at Military Cemetery tomorrow

The Ghanaian government has declared that on Friday, August 15, 2025, the six remaining victims of the helicopter crash on August 6, 2025, will be laid to rest at the Military Cemetery in Tse Addo, Accra.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stan Dogbe told reporters at a press conference prior to Friday’s interdenominational and interfaith funeral that following a pre-burial service, the bodies of the six, which included former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, Minister of Defense Edward Omane Boamah, Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress Samuel Sarpong, and three crew members: Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, will be taken for interment.

“After the service, the bodies of the six yet to be buried will be conveyed to the Military Cemetery at Tse Addo for burial. There, the Ghana Armed Forces, together with the churches of the six departed comrades, will oversee the burial ceremony at the cemetery,” he announced.

The state funeral for the eight crash victims comes after two of the victims, Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Limuna and Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation Dr. Murtala Muhammed, were buried on Sunday, August 10, 2025, in accordance with Islamic tradition.

President John Dramani Mahama said during the burial, which also happened at the Military Cemetery on Sunday, that the families of the deceased can still plan their own funeral ceremonies if they so choose.

“The families are able to hold separate events to commemorate their loved ones, and the government will be there to assist them,” the president said.

The president thanked the Muslim brothers’ families for allowing them to be buried at the nationally recognized site rather than in their hometowns or other preferred locales.

“We recognise that in Islam, when a person has died, they are supposed to be buried as quickly as possible, but the condition of the bodies made it difficult for us to positively identify which was which,” the president said.

In the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region, on August 6, 2025, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9 military helicopter crashed into a forest mountainside, killing all eight occupants.

The helicopter was traveling to Obuasi for an event aimed at stopping illicit mining from Kotoka International Airport in Accra.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com