Why rescue team used cocoa sacks for burnt remains of helicopter crash victims – CDS

• Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General William Agyapong, has clarified why cocoa sacks were used to carry the remains of the eight people who died in the August 6, 2025, military helicopter crash.

He said that although body bags were available at the scene, the severity of the burns made it impossible to use them. “We had some body bags at the scene, but the remains were so heated that it was not conducive for the bags to be used,” he explained.

According to him, the rescue team, operating deep in the forest and racing against nightfall, relied on what he called the “available and appropriate material” to remove the remains from the crash site.

“It was in the thick forest, and it was getting late. We had the option of leaving the remains there until the following day, but we knew what would have happened to the bodies. So the team that was up there, assessing the situation, decided to use the available materials they could lay hands on to start to descend the higher ground,” he said.

Lieutenant General Agyapong made the comments on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, when executives of the Ghana Journalists Association visited him. He revealed that personnel are still combing the crash area to ensure all remains and parts of the aircraft are found.

Why rescue team used cocoa sacks for burnt remains of helicopter crash victims – CDS explains

“It was getting very late. The place had been sealed off—I would not use the word ‘cordoned off’ because we didn’t even know the extent to which the wreckage had dispersed. As I speak, personnel on the ground continue to expand the search because we don’t know exactly where all the remains, fragments, and parts of the aircraft might be,” he stated.

He recounted that once the remains were brought down from the hillside, the team met medical personnel at the foot of the hill. 

“With the body bags they had—some of which had been sent from AngloGold Ashanti—they placed our fallen heroes in those bags decently. We kept them in ambulances and sent them to Kumasi, where they were placed in coffins and draped in national colours befitting their status as patriots of this country. Subsequently, we moved them to Accra, where you saw the kind of reception that was arranged for them,” he said.

The CDS acknowledged that the urgency of the situation may have led to deviations from standard practice. “Let me say that all these things were done hurriedly. There might have been some mistakes. In the morning when the aircraft was taking off, nobody expected any such disaster. From the crash to Accra, it is possible, likely that some things were done that were not in conformity with our culture,” he admitted.

Nonetheless, he maintained that the team acted in the best way possible under the circumstances. “But I must tell you that those who were on the ground assessed the situation, and from where I stand, looking back, I think they did the best with the resources they had at hand,” he concluded.

We are about completing the preliminary investigations and that is what will inform the kind of investigations that we need to undertake – CDS Lt. Gen. Agyapong

In an interview with Joy News the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Richard Ofori Agyemang, who was part of the team that went to the crash site said they burnt three body bags.

“We went there with body bags. The bodies, some were picked directly from fire, at the onset we burnt three body bags. So it was not sensible for us to continue on that path and we were not going to leave any of our compatriots there,” he said