The incident occurred Wednesday at El-Wak Stadium, where thousands of young applicants had gathered hoping to join the armed forces. Ghana’s military said the crush was triggered by an “unexpected surge of applicants who breached security protocols and rushed into the gates.”
The event, originally scheduled to begin at 06:20 GMT, drew unusually large crowds, partly due to the government extending the application deadline by a week to accommodate those who faced difficulties in the process.
Ghana has a youth unemployment rate of around 32%, and large turnouts at recruitment drives are common, often resulting in chaotic scenes.
Army spokesperson Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin said the exercise went ahead despite the tragedy but was suspended in the afternoon to implement additional safety measures. She confirmed that a formal investigation into the incident would be launched.
President John Mahama visited the injured in hospital, offering support amid what the military described as a “tragic” incident. Authorities emphasized that further steps would be taken to prevent such incidents in future recruitment exercises.