At least nine people were killed and 24 others injured on Wednesday after a passenger bus overturned on a steep road in Cameroon’s mountainous region of Adamawa, according to the region’s governor, Kildadi Taguiéké Boukar.
The bus had left the capital city of Yaounde and was heading to Maroua, a town in the country’s Far North region when the misfortune occurred around 10 a.m. local time at Mbe cliff located some 45 km away from Adamawa region’s chief town of Ngaoundére.
“The initial explanation suggests that the accident was caused by a mechanical failure. And since the vehicle was descending, the driver probably accelerated the bus,” Boukar told reporters after visiting the scene of the tragedy, adding that five children were among the dead.
The injured and corpses were transported to a local hospital, according to Boukar.
The accident came barely a day after six people were killed after their vehicle poorly overtook another vehicle in the country’s East region.
Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the central African nation.
Police attribute the high rates of road accidents to reckless driving, overspeeding, human error, drunk driving, and overloading.
XINHUA
