President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed that forensic reports for all eight victims of the August 6 military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region have been received.
Speaking at the burial of two of the victims — Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and MP for Tamale Central, and Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator — President Mahama disclosed that the reports had been sent electronically, paving the way for their interment.
DNA samples were sent to South Africa for analysis due to the badly charred state of the bodies.
“Happily, that process ended yesterday [August 9]. We received the forensic results for our brothers, Murtala and Alhaji Muniru, and that is why we are here to bury them today. As I speak, the forensic reports for the rest have also arrived. In consultation with the families, we will decide on their funerals. But as we have said, on August 15, we will hold a state funeral for all of them,” the President said on Sunday, August 10.
In line with Islamic tradition, Janazah prayers were performed for the two at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra, led by the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, before burial at the Military Cemetery near Burma Camp.
The government declared a three-day national mourning period, which included a flower-laying ceremony on August 7 and a memorial service on August 9. The state funeral will take place on Friday, August 15, 2025, at the Black Star Square in Accra.
The Z-9 military helicopter departed Accra at 9:12 a.m. local time, bound for Obuasi for an anti-illegal mining operation. The aircraft, carrying three crew members and five passengers, went “off the radar,” prompting a search-and-rescue mission that confirmed all eight aboard had died.
Source: Adomonline.com
