Firewood truck kills driver, destroys classrooms at Bonaberi

A truck driver named Fidelis Besong lost his life when he drove his truck, loaded with firewood, into two classrooms of the Saint Anthony Catholic Primary School, Buea Town.

According to sources, the death toll from last weekend's incident could have been higher if it were on a school day.

One of his conductors, who watched the truck roll off after he had removed the wedge, stated that the vehicle had a known defective brake system.

The truck had just been wedged while they sold firewood to a customer. Immediately the wedge was removed with the driver in his seat, the vehicle suddenly veered into the nearby classrooms, breaking down the wall. Luckily, the pupils were not in school on a Saturday, so the truck only hit the desks in its way. The truck, with registration NW 839 AC, which had taken off from the Bonaberi neighbourhood of Buea Town, rushed down on a stiff slope for about 400 metres before crashing onto the wall of the school.

The driver smashed his head due to the force. His body was taken to Tiko where Fidelis Besong lived. Those who rushed to the scene were unanimous in their comment: “If this had happened on a school day, dozens of lives would have been lost.” Many eyewitnesses told Cameroon Tribune the accident could have been avoided. “The truck had no functional brakes. We used wedges to bring it to a halt each time we had to sell firewood,” explained the two conductors.

After the accident, Buea administrative authorities and security officers went to the scene to assess the situation. On September 27, 2015, a fire engulfed a wooden house in the Bonaberi neighbourhood of Buea Town, rendering the entire family homeless. Exactly one week after, two classrooms of Saint Anthony Catholic Primary School were destroyed in a truck accident.