Six injured in Kumasi GAF recruitment stampede discharged

Six injured applicants from Wednesday’s stampede at the Ghana Armed Forces recruitment screening in Kumasi have been treated and discharged, according to local officials.

The incident happened at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium when a sudden push within the crowd caused several prospective recruits to fall, resulting in varying degrees of injury.

The affected applicants were taken to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and other nearby facilities, where they received emergency care before being released.

Kumasi Mayor Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi described the development as regrettable, noting that the city was working with security agencies and stadium management to prevent such occurrences during the ongoing screening exercise.

He said officials had begun reviewing crowd-handling procedures to ensure safer movement during physical assessments and document checks.

Public pressure has been mounting nationwide for a temporary halt to the recruitment following the deadly stampede at the El-Wak Sports Stadium in Accra, where six applicants lost their lives and dozens were injured.

Despite these calls, the exercise in Kumasi has proceeded, with security agencies increasing their presence to manage the swelling turnout.

On Thursday morning, thousands of young men and women thronged the stadium at dawn, forming long queues stretching around the facility as they waited for the next phase of screening.

Security personnel were positioned at all entrances, with organisers adjusting movement routes to reduce congestion.

The Mayor, who toured the stadium and later visited the hospitals where the injured applicants were admitted, expressed satisfaction with the revised safety measures.

He said facility managers had been instructed to install additional floodlights to support early-morning and late-night screening sessions, especially as the numbers remained high.

He also assured the injured applicants that government had committed to absorbing all medical expenses arising from the incident.

The Ghana Armed Forces is expected to continue the Kumasi screening under strengthened safety protocols as thousands of applicants return for subsequent stages of the exercise.