Three persons have lost their lives in an accident on the Mimboman-Nkobang road in Yaoundé after a trailer transporting a container lost brakes and crushed two cars.
The accident occurred around 7am on Wednesday 17th October in the Mimboman neighborhood.
Nine persons who were injured in the accident, including occupants of a Toyota Rav 4 bearing the registration number CE 173 OF and passersby are receiving medical care in two hospitals in Mimboman.
“ I was heading to school when our car got hit by a trailer. I was taken out of the car and rushed to the hospital. I am fine now and give glory to God,” Forbah Forbah, a pupil who was injured in the accident told CRTV WEB.
The bodies of the deceased; a woman and two men pulled out of a crushed taxi are currently lying in the mortuary.
The accident
According to eyewitness accounts, the trailer with the registration number LT TTR754AR was climbing the hill known as “monté Don Bosco” in the Mimboman neighborhood when it lost brakes and overturned the container it was transporting on the two cars.
Both cars; a Toyota Yaris taxi bearing the registration number CE 579 OF and a Toyota Carina E with registration number CE 049 HF were crushed beyond repairs.
“I was heading to the Mokolo market around 7am on a bike. We met the trailer struggling to climb the hill. The driver of a private car who was behind the trailer noticed what was happening and slowed down, but a pick up came from behind and attempted to overtake the trailer which could no longer climb the hill. It began going backwards, and fell on the two cars,” Benard Nang, an eyewitness told CRTV WEB.
Shortly before the unfortunate incident, all occupants of the Carina E reportedly ran out of the car before the trailer came crushing. Three out of the six occupants of the Toyota Yaris also ran to safety, but three others who were not fortunate to get out of the car on time lost their lives on the spot.
The driver of the trailer, and that of the Toyota Yaris are currently at large.
Traffic on hold!
Traffic along the Mimboman-Nkoabang road was interrupted for over five hours after the accident.
Commuters, including students, pupils, business persons, and people heading to work trekked on long stretches before getting to areas where they could board cabs.
A few bikes plying the streets picked up passengers some miles from the accident scene to stretches where cabs could easily be found.
It took about four hours for security forces, the gendarmerie, fire fighters and other authorities to retrieve the bodies of the three victims of the accident, pull out the wreckage of the crushed cars and the trailer, and restore traffic.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the accident, and authorities have cautioned drivers to be more cautious while driving along this stretch where most accidents have occurred.
Kathy Neba Sina
