Six Ghanaian youth players have been confirmed dead after a bus they were travelling in crashed into a river on Saturday, the Ghana Football Association have announced.

The accident occurred on the Kumasi-Offinso road in Ghana’s Ashanti region. A bus carrying the youth players veered into a river on their return from a league registration exercise on Saturday

“The leadership of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and the National Juvenile Committee (NJC) have learnt of the passing of six juvenile football players on Saturday, September 18, 2020 at Offinso, near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region,” the GFA announced on its official website on Saturday night.

“The GFA wishes to express our deepest condolences to the family of the six young footballers who passed away after the car they were traveling on submerged,” the statement continued. “We are informed that the players and their handlers were headed to Afrancho having undergone their District Colts football registration exercise at Offinso.

“The GFA and the NJC have dispatched a team to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi to visit the accident victims.”

The players from Africa Vision Soccer Academy, were on their way back to Offinso from the town of Afrancho where they underwent registration for the upcoming District Juvenile League.

The crash victims who are between the ages of 12 and 16, were transported to the Offinso St. Patrick Hospital, with local reports suggesting that some other players from the accident are in a critical condition.

All sports, including football competitions in Ghana, are under a national ban as part of measures to curb spread of the coronavirus disease, which has disrupted socio-economic activities around the world.

The GFA has, however, opened the window for player registration in anticipation of imminent lifting of the ban to allow resumption of the various national leagues.