Two feared dead in Natchtigal Dam reservoir boat capsize.

According to eye witness reports, the capsized boat had five persons on board. All the five persons are said to have been workers of Société Camerounaise de Construction du barrage de Nachtigal, CCN, the institution charged with constructing the dam.

The accident is reported to have occurred on August 30. Three of the five workers are said to have been rescued while the whereabouts of two others remain unknown, despite several search efforts.

Owned by the CCN, the boat is said to be responsible for civil engineering work on the Nachtigal hydroelectric development project, but capsized around 11:50 a.m. on that fateful day.

All five workers aboard were reportedly putting on life jackets. CCN is said to have acted swiftly, collaborating closely with the Nachtigal Hydropower Company, NHPC; the main project contractor, alongside administrative authorities to initiate a search operation.

Extensive resources, both in terms of manpower and equipment, were deployed for the search, reports hold. 

While three of the employees were located the same day and given immediate medical care, the search for the two missing workers has continued without success.

NHPC has refrained from declaring the two CCN employees deceased, instead opting to refer to them as "missing persons until they are found." Nevertheless, the likelihood of their survival is extremely slim after more than five days of search. 

Reports suggest that their life jackets, designed to endure harsh water conditions for a maximum of 48 hours, were found without their owners.

An investigation is currently in progress to determine the cause of the incident, with some sources close to the case pointing to a potential engine failure on the capsized boat.

The incident occurred just over a month after the completion of the filling of the Nachtigal dam on July 18, 2023. 

It was a milestone for the project which is expected to generate an initial 60 megawatts of electricity. 

It has been slated for integration into the South Interconnected Network, RIS by December 2023. 

It is an achievement that was made possible thanks to the completion of construction work on that transmission line, six months ahead of the contractual schedule, in September 2021.

NHPC has outlined plans for the gradual installation of six additional 60 MW turbines, with the complete commissioning of this energy infrastructure projected for September 2024. 

This is according to declarations from the Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba. 

Once fully operational, the Nachtigal Dam alone will bolster Cameroon's current energy capacity by 30%, according to both government and cont