YAOUNDE, Cameroon
At least 16 people were killed and nearly three dozen injured Sunday when a four-story building collapsed onto a smaller one in Cameroon’s largest city, authorities said.
“The casualty figures may be
higher, said Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of Cameroon’s Littoral
region, where the Douala is located. The city is 30 miles (210 km) west of the
capital, Yaounde.
The governor said that “rescue
workers, assisted by Cameroon government troops, are still digging the wreckage
to see if more bodies can be recovered.”
The military’s fire brigade has been
ordered to join the country’s Red Cross and other rescue services in searching
for survivors.
Residents living in the
Ndogbon neighborhood where the incident took place said they are in shock.
“We
heard people screaming … and struggled to help some out of the wreckage, but
could not do it with our spades and (garden) hoes,” said Gaspard Ndoppo, who
lives near the collapsed buildings.
Building collapses happen
often in Douala, sometimes due to natural disasters such as landslides and
other times because of poor construction, locals say.
Douala’s city council is
currently demolishing houses in high-risk zones susceptible to floods or
landslides. The building that collapsed on Sunday was not marked for
demolition.
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