North West: 3 die in Bambili accident

A truck transporting laterite for road works reportedly suffered brake failure.

Bambili, the University village in Tubah Subdivision, Mezam Division of the North West Region, was calm until about 11 am on Monday, May 16, 2016, when a truck crushed three people to death and seriously injured six others. The accident happened at the major road junction into the Bambili main campus of the University of Bamenda.

Sources on-the-spot blamed the accident on brake failure by the truck that was reportedly transporting laterite for road rehabilitation works in the neighbourhood. Victims could not be immediately identified, but passersby suggested that the dead included the driver of the truck, the conductor and another conductor in a nearby Toyota Hilux pickup vehicle selling fuel wood.

The six who suffered serious injuries included commercial motorcycle riders and public pay phone operators who often crowd the junction. Meanwhile, North West Governor, Adolphe Lele Lafrique and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Bamenda, Prof. Therese Nkuo Akenji, visited the scene.

The Governor took measures for the corpses to be taken to mortuary while investigations were opened to determine the cause of the accident. He also ordered that the truck involved in the accident be cleared immediately.