Douala: Building collapses, kills at least 16, injures 21.

The unfortunate incident happened at about 12:16 a.m. yesterday. Government authorities in the Littoral Region, who rushed to the scene, confirmed the number killed and those injured.   

By 9 a.m. yesterday, a massive rescue operation was initiated. The bodies of nine persons were recovered from the debris while seven others were confirmed to have died at the Deido District Hospital, where some 12 of the injured victims were transported for medical care. 

An entire family, including four visiting children on holidays, all died in the incident. The four-storey building, local sources said, was old, spanning over 30 years and had long shown signs of crumbling. 

A surviving occupant attested that a knock on the wall could result to flakes of blocks falling on the ground. But occupants were lured to stay on as cost of house rent was cheaper, comparatively to other residents in the area.

It remains, however, difficult to determine the complete number of families who lived in the building, which had been nicknamed by neighbours the “building of death," due to perceived dangers. But lose figures gathered on ground amounted to over 60 people.

As minutes died out, the search for dead bodies or survivors increased. A combined military rescue unit, made up of the Rapid Intervention Bataillon, BIR, National Gendarmerie, police and firefighters, had been deployed to the scene. 

At press time, the rescue mission was still ongoing and the dead toll may increase. State officials of the Littoral Region, led by the Governor, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua, went to the site to take stock of the damages. 

The Governor's delegation equally made rounds at the various health facilities where victims are hospitalised, notably the Laquintini and the Deido District Hospitals.

Governor Ivaha Diboua assured the population that government had put in measures to ensure that calm returns and nobody is left underneath the rubbles, while the wounded are taken care of.

The scene has sent across chilling sensations as families of victims are counting their lost. One of them, Tchombe Alain, sat at a corner. He had just received confirmation from the morgue that his 35-year-old cousin, Tchombe Sylvain, had died in the incident. 

"I was called by a friend at around 4 a.m. that my cousin, who lived at the fourth floor of this building, had died. I just left the morgue for confirmation. Right now, the corpse is at the level of the government authorities. We have been told to wait. We are waiting on them before we can arrange for his burial," he said in tears.

A Muslim occupant, who survived, told reporters that he had gone out to work. As a motorbike rider, his motorbike had broken-down thrice. 

The recurrent breakdowns felt unusual, only for him to get home at the same time the building was crumbling.

With persistent rain fall that Douala has witnessed lately, the current deadly collapse was the third within two nights. But the two others did not record any loss in human lives.

Douala City Council officials had long warned denizens to desist from inhabiting risky zones and to ensure construction works comply with modalities prescribed by the public works department.