Ebombe: Three people killed in accident

A heavy log from an oncoming timber lorry fell on a saloon car, smashing three of the four passengers.

Three people died on Friday, June 26, 2015, in a motor accident in the little village of Ebombe, about 25 km from Edea in the Sanaga Maritime Division of the Littoral Region.

According to Bitolo Jean Longeur, a local Red Cross volunteer who took part in rescuing survivors, the accident happened at about 7 am after a 70-seat bus belonging to FINEXS Bus Company driving to Yaounde had just finished overtaking another vehicle.

A red Toyota saloon car following right behind the bus, which was not so successful in its overtaking bid, suddenly found itself face to face with a fully loaded timber lorry travelling from Yaounde to Douala. In an attempt to avoid a head-on collision with the little Toyota car, the driver of the lorry with registration number LTTR 783 AC, swerved to the right, crushing a portion of the front part of the car.

Unfortunately, the huge metal chains holding the three heavy logs the truck was transporting snapped, letting off one of them. The log landed on an oncoming BMW saloon car with registration number LT 853 DZ that was behind the red Toyota car. Both the detached log and overturned lorry ended up in a nearby ditch with the back of the truck occupying a portion of the highway.

According to ‘Commissaire principal’ Kano David, Commissioner of the Edea Central Police Station, three passengers in the BMW car died on the spot. They were Abegoua Bernard Olivier, the driver aged 41, Assiga Guillaume, 49 and Oumarou Abdour Rahamane, a Chadian national aged 43.

When Cameroon Tribune reporters arrived at the scene of the accident about an hour after, the flow of traffic was still disrupted as police and gendarme officers directed motorists to use only one lane.

Meanwhile, bodies of the three dead were still trapped inside the smashed wreckage of the BMW car before an ambulance team from the Edea Regional Hospital Annex arrived to collect them.

Beiga Etang Eric, who lives opposite the site of the accident and saw it happen, recounted the scene of horror as survivors trapped in vehicle wreckages cried for help. He said they were able to rescue and send them to hospital for immediate medical attention.

According to Commissioner Kano David, seven people were seriously wounded in the accident and were rushed to the Edea Regional Hospital Annex where they are in intensive care. They include the driver of the timber truck, Mfouapon Alassa. Meanwhile, the corpses are in the mortuary of the Edea Regional Hospital Annex.

Ebombe village first came to the limelight on January 26, 2003 after about 60 people died in another ghastly accident involving five vehicles. Most of the dead were from a 32-seat bus belonging to Kami Express and Félicité Express Bus Companies, with the latter carrying over 70 people.