At least 33 people lost their lives and five others were injured in a tragic incident when an apartment building collapsed in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon. The catastrophe occurred on Saturday night, around 01:30 (00:30 GMT), when a four-storey apartment building in the northern part of Douala collapsed onto a one-storey residential building.
Earlier reports on Sunday indicated a death toll of at least sixteen, with five individuals in critical condition. However, the numbers increased significantly as the rescue operations progressed. Douala's Laquintinie hospital treated thirteen cases from the tragedy, recording two more fatalities, including a three-year-old girl and a 19-year-old girl.
This unfortunate incident raises concerns about construction standards, as in 2016, a residential building collapse in Douala resulted in the death of five people, prompting authorities to address compliance issues. During that time, they had identified 500 buildings in the city deemed "threatening ruin."
As for the current collapse, rescue operations began on Sunday and continued through the evening and into Monday morning, with efforts to clear rubble in the hopes of finding survivors. The governor of the Littoral region, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua visited the site on Sunday and assured that the situation was under control, and firefighters were working diligently to ensure no one remained trapped.
Sources: africanews.com, aljazeera.com, lemonde.fr
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