Six Dead in Crowd Crush at Ghana Military Recruitment Event

Six people were killed and 22 injured in a crowd crush at a military recruitment event in Accra, Ghana, prompting a government investigation and renewed scrutiny of youth unemployment and crowd safety measures.

At least six people have died and 22 others were injured, five of them critically, following a crowd crush at a military recruitment exercise held at the El-Wak Stadium in Accra, Ghana. The tragedy occurred early in the morning, before the event’s scheduled 06:20 GMT start, when thousands of job seekers reportedly surged past security barriers in a desperate attempt to secure entry.

Authorities attributed the incident to an overwhelming and unanticipated influx of applicants, many of whom had arrived overnight amid Ghana’s persistently high youth unemployment rate, currently estimated at 32%. Witnesses described chaotic scenes as security personnel struggled to control the crowd, with several people trapped or trampled during the rush.

A similar incident on the same day in Kumasi left five others injured, raising fresh concerns about crowd management and the government’s handling of mass recruitment exercises. Emergency services and the military were quickly deployed to the scene in Accra, where the injured were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

President John Mahama visited survivors and families of the victims, expressing deep sorrow and pledging that lessons would be learned from the tragedy. “This is a national loss,” he said, adding that the government would take immediate steps to review safety measures at future public recruitment events.

The Ghana Armed Forces temporarily suspended the nationwide recruitment exercise to allow for a full investigation into the incident. A committee has been tasked with identifying lapses in planning, crowd control, and communication.

Labour experts say the incident underscores the country’s growing employment crisis and the desperation of many young people seeking stable public-sector jobs. Economic analysts have urged the government to address systemic job scarcity to prevent similar tragedies in the future.