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At least six people have died during a crowd crush at a military recruitment event in a stadium in Ghana.<\/p>\n
Wednesday’s “tragic” crush appeared to have been caused by “an unexpected surge of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the gates,” said a statement from Ghana’s armed forces.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two others were injured, including five who remain in critical condition.<\/p>\n
Thousands had turned up to El-Wak stadium, in the capital, Accra, with the hope of joining the military.<\/p>\n
Ghana has a youth unemployment rate of about 32%, the latest government statistics show, and such recruitment events normally draw large crowds and often result in chaotic scenes.<\/p>\n
The deadline to apply for this event was extended by a week to accommodate more applicants, as some had experienced difficulties in the process.<\/p>\n
Army spokesperson Capt Veronica Adzo Arhin said the crush occurred ahead of the event’s scheduled start of 06:20 GMT.<\/p>\n
On the same day, five people were injured in a crush at separate military recruitment session in the central city of Kumasi, regional official Dr Frank Amoakohene reported on Facebook.<\/p>\n
In Accra, families crowded the emergency ward at the 37 Military Hospital, desperate for news of their loved ones, the AFP news agency reported.<\/p>\n
Relatives wept while security officers struggled to contain the crowd outside.<\/p>\n
Ghana’s President John Mahama arrived in the afternoon to visit the injured.<\/p>\n
Despite the deaths, the recruitment exercise did start, but it was suspended in the afternoon “to allow for additional measures to ensure a seamless exercise”, Capt Arhin said.<\/p>\n
She added that there would be an investigation into the crush.<\/p>\n