Cameroon: Anguish as Flood Leaves 30 Dead, Dozens Injured

In November last year, at least 15 people died when a landslide engulfed members of a funeral party in Yaounde's working-class district of Damas, on the eastern outskirts.

By Boris Esono Nwenfor & Sonita Ngunyi Nwohtazie

Many families in Mbankolo, a neighbourhood in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé have had to sleep on the cold earth after a devastating flood on Sunday left some 30 persons dead and more than 17 injured. On Wednesday, the Minister of Communication, René Emmanuel Sadi visited the site of the landslide that claimed about 30 lives.

The spokesperson of the government had first-hand information on search and rescue operations ongoing on the site and extended the condolences and compassion of the Presidential couple to the victims.

The rains unleashed floodwaters in the district of Yaoundé 2 of the country’s capital, sweeping away buildings and reducing many houses to rubble. In the city's Mbankolo neighbourhood, at least 30 houses were swept away while several collapsed on residents inside.

“I am still looking for my father who was in the house during the downpour," 24-year-old Ernest Zebaze, a university student, said he identified the bodies of his mother and two siblings.

Bodies of the victims have been laid out at a morgue, while the injured were rushed to hospitals. The Yaounde General Hospital said it received 12 injured, including a 7-year-old girl. Authorities in Cameroon have been demolishing houses in high-risk zones susceptible to floods and landslides. Many of the buildings that collapsed on Sunday had been marked for demolition.

"And when I have got the publication of the Meteo (weather agency) - I have sent out a release document calling local authorities to do everything possible to let the bed of the water free,” Celestine Ketcha Courtes, Minister of Urban Development said.

“Because we know at this moment in Cameroon, we have these terrible rains. So, all my condolences to the family whose loved ones passed away. Please follow the instructions, the urbanism document, because our country has so many documents concerning the well and planned evacuation of our cities," Celestine Ketcha Courtes added.

Flooding is common in Cameroon, especially in recent years, according to experts who point to the effects of climate change as the reason. Destruction from the flooding was exacerbated by low-quality construction that circumvents local regulations.

Cameroonian authorities have been demolishing houses and buildings recently in areas that are at high risk of flooding. Many of those that were destroyed in Sunday's flooding had been marked for demolition.

Cameroon Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Ngi, who visited the site, announced the death toll has reached 27 and that all the injured would be treated for free. "I have come to extend the condolences of Cameroon President Paul Biya to the bereaved families," he said.