Douala: Many narrowly escape death in another building collapse.

The incident reportedly occurred in the early hours of Saturday, September 16 in the Nyalla Priso neighborhood, in the Douala III Subdivision.

The incident came barely a month after the collapse of a four- storey building at the ‘Mobil Guinness’ neighborhood, which claimed the lives of some 42 persons.

While owners of the recently collapsed building are lamenting over the enormous loss in material wealth, state officials in the Region are expressing delight over the fact that no human life was lost. 

The Governor of the Littoral Region, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua, alongside Douala City Mayor and the Mayor of the Douala III Council, went visiting the incident site to take stock of the situation.

They appreciated the occupants of the building for their prompt response to quit the area when warning signs were noticed.

"I congratulate the people who lived in these houses because, a day after the incident at Mobil Guinness, a wall of this building collapsed, we asked the people to quit and they obeyed. That is why today, we have not registered any loss in human lives," the Governor told reporters.

Governor Ivaha Diboua stated that: "We had received instructions from the Head of Government to ask people living at risky areas to vacate so as to save lives. And the City Council had made a list of buildings that are concerned. You see we destroyed one at the level of Bonapriso known as ‘Immeuble IPN’ last week. This is all because there is nothing more we can do than to save human lives".

Part of the building that was touched, it was revealed, will be demolished by the Douala City Council in the days ahead. 

Douala City Mayor, Dr Roger Mbassa Ndine, has reiterated the need for the population to be on alert.

"We are going to be destroying all these buildings that are at risk to the population," he warned.

For his part, the Mayor of Douala III, Valantin Epoupa, said they have sensitised all those living at flood-prone areas, especially around Japoma to be on the alert. 

He announced that most of the residents have up till October 6, 2023, to quite the area.