By Faith Nyasuguta
Some 40 people have died and scores injured in three road accidents in Cameroon in the past two days.
This was revealed by the Ministry of Transport which announced that the deadliest accident occurred on Thursday morning in Batchenga, about 60km north of the capital Yaoundé.
The accident killed 22 people in a head-on collision between a travel bus and a truck ferrying sand, Transport Minister Jean Ernest Masséna Ngalle Bibehe revealed in a statement.
Another accident killed some 16 people and injured dozens of others on Wednesday night, some 50 mm east of the capital.
In this, a travel bus hit a semi-trailer truck.
The third accident also left some two people dead and another 28 injured at the center of the nation.
“These unfortunate incidents, which occurred in the midst of a special campaign of prevention and road safety (…) highlight the negligence of both intercity transport companies and freight carriers,” the Minister said.
“The Minister of Transport informs the transport companies of people and goods, it will proceed from now on to issue a suspension of any transport activity in case of new involvement in a road accident,” he also added.
Road accidents involving passenger travel buses Road accidents involving passenger buses are relatively frequent and deadly in Cameroon.
In late January, at least 53 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a van carrying fuel in the west.
In late December, at least 37 people, including ten women and four children, died in another accident.
