Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, was struck by a devastating landslide resulting from persistent heavy rainfall, which, as confirmed by firefighters on Monday, has resulted in the unfortunate loss of a minimum of 23 lives. Ongoing search efforts aim to locate any additional victims.
In Yaounde, where residences are sometimes haphazardly built on the city’s numerous hills, landslides are a recurring issue during the rainy season.
The most recent incident took place on Sunday evening in the Mbankolo district, located to the northwest of Yaounde, a region that is home to nearly three million residents.
CRTV, the public broadcaster, stated that the bursting of a dam holding back an artificial lake on higher ground was a consequence of the torrential rainfall.
‘Yesterday we pulled out 15 people who had died and this morning we have found eight,’ the fire service’s second in command David Petatoa Poufong told reporters at the site.
‘We are still looking.’
Grieving family members looked on in anguish as an AFP journalist documented the departure of firefighters, who were transporting the lifeless bodies of some victims, each one draped in sheets.
To maintain safety and order, a security cordon was established to keep both onlookers and media personnel away from the exact spot where the landslide occurred.
TV broadcasts displayed striking images of an entire hill section giving way, leaving behind what appeared to be houses constructed from a combination of wood, dried earth bricks, and metal sheeting.
As per the account of the AFP journalist, one could make out the vestiges of hillside houses that had been washed away by the landslide, seen in the distance.
‘There was a landslide after heavy rain. The water swept away everything in its path,’ Daouda Ousmanou, a local administrative official announced on public radio.
CRTV reported that the torrential mudslide resulted in the destruction of approximately 30 houses. They also broadcasted images that seemed to depict torrents of water and mud still flowing in certain areas during the night.
Back in November of last year, a catastrophic landslide took place, claiming the lives of no less than 15 people as it swept through a funeral gathering in the working-class Damas district, located on the eastern periphery of Yaounde.
In 2019, the city of Bafoussam in the west witnessed a tragic incident in which 43 people lost their lives. A landslide, brought on by heavy rains, swept away a dozen fragile homes constructed on the slope of a hill.