After Douala: Three feared dead as another building collapses in Ngaoundere.

The incident in Ngaoundere happened under 48 hours after another four -storey building collapsed last Sunday, in the Ndogpong neighbourhood in Douala, claiming at least 37 lives.

A woman and her two kids are said to have been among those reportedly trapped in the rubble of the crashed structure in Ngaoundere. The victims were said to be living in a compound nearby on which the collapsed building came crashing. 

The Governor of the Adamawa Region, Kildadi Taguieke Boukar, visited the scene of the collapsed building yesterday.

The administrator regretted that the incident was life threatening but explained that search efforts were underway to ensure no life is lost. 

Having been informed of the building collapse, the regional boss said it was imperative for he and his collaborators to set actions in motion to ensure the safety of the population.

Governor Boukar announced that findings had been ordered to ascertain what caused the structure, which was still being raised, to collapse.

“We do hope that at the end of our intervention, those trapped in the building will still be alive. We want to ensure that such incidents don’t happen in future,” the Governor underscored.

While authorities are working to update the public on what caused the tragedy, some locals have attributed the incident to what they said are low quality of material used in raising the building.

The collapsed building in Ngaoundere comes as authorities in the Littoral Region are still working to minimise deaths in Sunday’s storey- building collapse. The number of those who died as at yesterday is said to have reached 37. It moved from 16 on Sunday to 34 on Monday. 

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Celestine Ketcha Courtes, was in Douala Monday, to get further details on Sunday’s happenstance.

Beyond mourning those who died and visited survivors in the hospital, the member of government blamed the accident on the non-respect of construction guidelines.

Going by her, “Despite the fact that Douala possesses a well-crafted plan, houses are built without permits. We are saddened by this one which happened due to the non-respect of construction norms”.

The housing minister said, at a time when government is enhancing decentralisation, stakeholders should work to ensure no structure is erected in risky zones or commenced without approval from experts and respective councils.