Douala III: Mayor swings into action after 2 die at Nyalla construction site
The Mayor of the Douala III municipality has announced the demolition of a structure under construction at a site called Block Mapubi in Nyalla-rail where two workers were buried alive last April 15.
“We have decided to demolish the structure and stop any construction on this site. It is a risky zone and the lives of the neighbours are at stake. No building permit was obtained for this project that blocked run off passage. Imagine the disaster it could cause during the rainy season. Another measure we have taken is to secure the zone to prevent persons from accessing it,” Mayor Valentin Epoupa Bossambo said.
The deceased, Francis – 48 years and Paulin – 21 years, were at the construction site alongside eight others when the incident occured. One of them, Arsene, who had his life saved because he was mixing concrete at the time said the the death toll would have been worse.
“They were three of them working in there. The other person left to check what time it was. Just few seconds after he moved out, the ground collapsed on Francis and Paulin. I was mixing concrete when it happened if not, I would have been in there with them,” Arsene recounted.
When it happened, some persons who had just been in contact with the victims thought it was a prank.
“When I learned of what happened I thought it was April fool since we are in the month of April. Francis came to the bar and drank beer and we spoke for some time before he left to continue work,” a woman who runs a bar in the area said.
According to sources, the incident happened at about 4:00pm . Immediately the population gathered with youths digging to rescue Francis and Paulin. Unfortunately they retrieved Francis already dead. Efforts to retrieve Paulin were fruitless. It was only when rescue soldiers arrived at about 7:00pm that the second corpse was pulled out.
Meantime, the contractor of the project is currently in police custody at the 11th Police district station for investigation.
