Efoulan fuel tanker explosion: Health ministry provides psychological assistance to victims.

A team of officials, led by a psychiatrist, Dr Menguene Laure, was at the Efoulan vicinity on Tuesday. 

The team engaged with some of those heavily affected by the fire incident. They administered Melex, a tranquiliser, to help calm those traumatised by the incident.

Speaking to The Guardian Post, a member of the team, Fandie Rakiatou, explained that: “Our role is to manage the situation at a pathological level. This means providing medical care for any physical trauma at the hospital”.

Rakiatou, however, indicated that, “Our primary focus is on psychological follow-ups, facilitated by specialised staff from the Department of Health Protection”.

Talking about helping the victims deal with the stress, Rakiatou further explained that the approach they are using involves “evaluating the stress levels of the affected population to organise appropriate psychological support”.

He indicated further that: “We aim to provide tailored support for severe or major cases. Currently, our team is in the process of identifying those in need by collecting their names and contact information and assessing their mental state”.

The member of the team further explained that: “The evaluation is conducted using a standardised method known in psychological support as the Peri-traumatic Stress State”. 

Rakiatou specified that the “codified assessment helps us determine who exhibits stress levels higher than the norm. Based on this evaluation, we can identify individuals who require long-term or short-term psychological support”.

Victims count losses 

Meantime, victims among them, families and shop owners, who were affected by the incident, were spotted early yesterday picking the debris of whatever they could salvaged from the ashes.

One of the victims, a petty trader at the Mvog Atangana Mballa Market, whose name The Guardian Post got as Mbezele Marie Joseph, said her pain is unbearable. 

"I was unable to sleep. When I think about my suffering, I feel overwhelmed. I am out every day, under the sun and the rain, trying to earn money to support my children. We could lack everything in the house except food because I always cook food in large quantities so that anyone visiting can be fed,” Mbezele said. 

But within the twinkle of an eye, Mbezele said the tanker accident has reduced her to nothing. 

“Today, I am a nobody. All my efforts have been destroyed. I have nothing left. Like Job who lost all his riches, I now rely only on God's mercy. I pray like Lazarus for the Lord's mercy upon me," she lamented 

Mbezele, it should be said, lost all her belongings in the fire that emanated from the truck accident. 

She declared that: "There is nothing left. The children gave me some pictures, but what can I do with them? How can a picture help me? I even left some money here to pay a debt on a beans transaction I made. The man was supposed to come Tuesday night, but he is still in the Nord Region".

The victim further detailed that before the incident, she used to "sell everything including beans, garri, rice, spaghetti, groundnuts, macaroni, pistachios, and ginger. But today, all my efforts, all that I had is lost”.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3164 of Wednesday July 10, 2024