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Search and rescue work is still going on very urgently. (Source: Reuters)
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On October 9, the Cameroon Army’s Rescue and Rescue Force said at least 23 people were killed in a dam collapse caused by heavy rain in the country’s capital, Yaounde.
The dam failure occurred in Mbankolo district northwest of the capital Yaounde on the afternoon of October 8 (local time), spilling a large amount of water from the reservoir into residential areas and causing landslides.
According to Reuters news agency, at least 30 houses have been destroyed and rescue forces have only recently removed 5 bodies from the rubble.
Images broadcast on television showed an entire part of the hill being eroded. Search and rescue work is still going on very urgently.
Landslides are common during the rainy season in Yaounde, where many houses are built in the hilly areas surrounding the city. Last November, at least 15 people were killed in a landslide in Damascus district.
In 2019, a landslide caused by heavy rains also claimed the lives of 43 people in the city of Bafoussam, Western Cameroon, and swept away dozens of houses on the hillside.