YAOUNDE: A landslide in Yaounde, Cameroon killed at least eleven people attending a funeral on Sunday, a local official said.
The deceased had gathered at the hilltop for the funeral of five people when the ground collapsed. Some of the participants were sitting in tents.
Paul Bea, the governor of the Centre region, told state media that the incident occurred early this evening. The rescue operation is underway.
On the other side, a rescue worker told AFP that the search operation had been suspended late Sunday evening and it was planned to resume on early Monday.
Memorial service
Marie Claire Mendouga, 50, attended the memorial service but her tent remained safe. She told AFP that they had just started dancing when the ground collapsed.
Marie who was still covered with brown clay while talking to AFP said that she dig the ground with bare hands to rescue people trapped under the landslide.
The incident occurred in the capital Yaounde’s working-class district of Damas, situated on its eastern outskirts.
Emergency vehicles struggled to reach the site
An AFP correspondent at the scene saw four large white tents on the top of the hill, at the edge of what appeared to be a bridge. Beyond there, the ground had disappeared.
Police vehicles were shifting bodies covered by white sheets on Sunday evening. the area was cordoned off, preventing journalists from getting closer to the site.
Hundreds searching for loved ones
Emergency services struggled to reach the site as hundreds of people, some of them weeping, restlessly searched for loved ones.
A member of the rescue service told on condition of anonymity that eleven people had died.
Mendouga, whose tears were streaming down her face, said that she was uncertain if she will be able to sleep. –APP/AFP
