Ghana's Defense Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the eight people killed in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.

What we know so far

Everyone on the military Z9 helicopter was killed in the accident in Ghana's central Ashanti region, a government spokesperson said.

The Ghanaian Armed Forces said the air force helicopter took off in the morning from the capital, Accra, and was heading northwest into the interior toward the gold-mining area of Obuasi in Ashanti when it went off the radar.

The wreckage was later found in the forested Adansi area of Ashanti.

Three other officials, including the vice chair of the ruling National Democratic Congress party, Samuel Sarpong, were killed alongside three Ghana Air Force crew members.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, and the armed forces said they had launched an investigation.

Ghana news site My Joy Online reported a strong security presence of military and police at the crash site.

Ghanaian media reported that the helicopter was on its way to an event on illegal mining, a major environmental issue in the west African country.

Ghana declares three days of mourning

"The president and government extend our condolences and sympathies to the families of our comrades and the servicemen who died in service to the country," said President John Dramani Mahama's chief of staff.

Mahama declared three days of mourning and had canceled his official activities for the day, the spokesperson said.

Mourners gathered at the Boamah's residence as well as at the party's headquarters, and Ghana's government described the crash as a "national tragedy."

Mahama was "down, down emotionally," Haruna Iddrisu, Ghana's education minister, told reporters outside the presidency after news broke of the crash.

Muhammed, the environment minister, was at the helm as the country battles a scourge of illegal, informal gold mining that has ravaged farmlands and contaminated water.

A medical doctor by training, Boamah's career in government included stints as communications minister during Mahama's previous 2012-2017 tenure. Before that, he served as the deputy environment minister.

Edited by: Sean Sinico