ACCRA, Ghana -- A police official in Ghana says that at least 17 people have been killed, mostly students, after a tree fell on them during a storm while they were touring the Kintampo Waterfall north of the capital.

Police commander Desmond Owusu-Boampong told local media Monday that 17 bodies have been retrieved since Sunday at the resort about 414 kilometres (257 miles) north of the capital, Accra.

He said most of the dead are students from the Wenchi Methodist Secondary School and the University of Energy and Natural Resources.

Ghana's Tourism Minister Catherine Afeku expressed sympathies to the families of the victims and said the injured are at local hospitals.

The Ghana Tourism Authority said it is working with police and Kintampo local officials to give families needed support and information.