Tiko: Widow dies as boat transporting Baptist women capsizes.

The women of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, estimated to have been over 80, had converged on that fateful morning to embark on a journey to the Bikikri creek. They were en route to attend their first meeting of the year when the tragic incident occurred.

Narrating the circumstances that led to the tragic incident, a witness, whose only name we got as Madam Dengu, a member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church Likumba, explained that the boat, transporting the first group of women (approximately 20), had not gone far from the shore, when it began sinking.

"The first set of women entered while we waited for our own boat. After they left, they did not go too far from the shore when the boat capsized, plunging all the women into the water," Madam Dengu told The Guardian Post.

A rescue team and some villagers immediately dived into the river to rescue the women, as the majority had little or no swimming skills. Sources say some who had swimming skills were able to swim out of the river.

While four of the victims were rushed to hospital in critical condition, one gave up the ghost, despite all attempts to revive her. Another was placed under oxygen and two others who incurred injuries are currently receiving medical attention at the Baptist Hospital in Mutengene.

"When they withdrew her from the water, they began running helter skelter with her, trying all means to revive her but she kept vomiting blood and foam till she finally passed away," Dengu further explained.

In a video captured by one of the women a few minutes to the incident, Chia Linda Bih could be spotted in an enthusiastic mood, unaware of that which awaited her in the minutes ahead. Her demise was considered by many as a bitter pill to swallow, considering that Linda Bih was a woman who always expressed joy and happiness.

As a result of the incident, the one-day meeting, which was scheduled to take place on the same day, was automatically cancelled and postponed.

Rev Wainkem Timothy, the Pastor in Charge of the Emmanuel Baptist Church Likumba–Tiko, while regretting the sad incident, explained that: "The villagers came in and tried to assist and the women were taken out of the river. Unfortunately, before we reached the hospital, we discovered that one of them had given up the ghost. She was a member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Likumba".

"We will continue to trust God for the living and the children that the woman has left behind. We will trust God for their lives and their future and we are trusting God for continuity in the church," Rev Wainkem said. He noted that despite the loss, "...we have to move forward because God has not changed".

A native of Njinikom, Boyo Division in the North West Region, Linda Bih, who recently lost her husband, leaves behind three children, among whom are two boys and a girl.