Former President Goodluck Jonathan has condoled with President John Mahama and the people of the Republic of Ghana over the deadly military helicopter crash in the southern Ashanti region that killed the country’s defense and environment ministers as well as six others on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed were among the five passengers on board the helicopter, as well as three crew members when the plane crashed en-route from the capital of Accra to Obuasi, a mining town in southern Ghana.

In his condolence message, Jonathan described it as a devastating loss not only for Ghana but the entire sub-region, noting that the victims “were committed public servants who gave their lives in service to the country.”