Reverend Philip Kale, father of 20-year-old Benedita Yayra Kale, one of the six young ladies who died in the El-Wak Sports Stadium recruitment stampede, has recounted in painful detail how he learned of his daughter’s tragic passing.

Benedita, the second of Rev Kale’s children, had long dreamt of serving in the military. That dream ended on Wednesday November 12, 2025 during the chaotic Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) recruitment exercises, which drew thousands of hopeful applicants to the El-Wak Stadium.

According to Rev Kale, Benedita left home around 3:00 a.m. accompanied by her elder brother, Gabriel Kale, after receiving instructions to report for a task related to the Military enlistment.

Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb TV on November 14, 2025, Rev Kale recalled receiving the first update from Gabriel around 4:20 a.m., informing him that they had arrived safely but found the venue already overcrowded.

“He told me the place was choked with people,” the grieving father recounted. Gabriel urged him to switch on his internet data so he could share videos of the chaotic scene at the stadium.

Rev Kale said he encouraged his children to remain calm and persistent, trusting that “by God’s will, they will overcome.”

According to him, an hour later, between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., Gabriel called again and this time with panic in his voice.

Military officers told me point blank they couldn’t help my dying sister - Brother of late Benedicta

“He said something was going on… Benedita had collapsed,” he said.

He narrated that sensing the severity of the situation, he rushed out immediately, hiring a taxi and heading toward 37 Military Hospital.

“I helped them carry my daughter into the emergency hall… I started praying,” he asserted.

He explained that doctors attempted resuscitation, performing chest compressions before asking the family to exit the room so they could perform emergency procedures.

He stated that for hours, families waited anxiously outside the emergency unit, with cries and confusion filling the atmosphere. Eventually, officers led them in groups to identify bodies of the deceased.

“I found my daughter lying there, dead…I saw my daughter Benedita lying there dead… and then I left.”

Benedita’s body remains at the 37 Military Hospital morgue and the family is awaiting further instructions.

Meanwhile, Benedita’s brother, Gabriel who accompanied her on the day stated clearly that his sister was not trampled, hinting that her death may have been due to suffocation or collapse from the overcrowded conditions.

Six people died in Accra as a result of the stampede during the ongoing Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) 2025/2026 recruitment exercise on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.

Meanwhile, the government has announced that it will support the burial and funeral arrangements of the six young women who lost their lives during the tragedy.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, disclosed this during a visit to one of the bereaved families at Eyan Maim in the Central Region on Friday, November 14, 2025.

She emphasised that the state wouldPresident Mahama visits 37 Military Hospital to console El-Wak stampede victims.





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