Adamawa mourns its dead

The official area in Ngaoundere including most of the administrative services of the city and public buildings wore mourning. Cameroonian flags flutter in the wind at half-mast.

The same atmosphere, heavy and serious, prevailed in the services of the regional governor of Adamawa, the prefecture of Vina and lamidat of Ngaoundere.

The National Day of mourning declared by the head of state coincided with Friday, the day of the great prayer for Muslims. There is certainly no special ceremony that day but that of Muslims who delivered special prayers for the souls of Cameroonian pilgrims who lost their lives in the stampede at the Mina valley in Saudi Arabia on 24 September.

Other religious congregations also had heartfelt thoughts for the dead. In the various religious services, pastors and priests joined their voices to those of imams. Until yesterday, special prayers were said.

Adamawa is one of the regions that paid the heaviest price of the stampede. The departments of Mbéré and Mayo-Banyo were most affected. They recorded among them more than twenty dead.

The decision of the head of state to declare a National Day of Mourning for the victims of this tragedy, was welcomed by the pilgrims who returned healthy and sound and continue to give thanks to Allah. Adamawa is in shock, mourning her dead.