GBHS Deido: Iron goal post collapses kills student

By Synthia Lateu

A 10-year-old girl in Form One at the Government Bilingual High School in Diedo, Douala, has died after an iron goal post collapsed on her. The unfortunate incident which occurred on November 5, happened during a sports activity at the school.

According to reports, the girl was swinging from the iron goal post when she lost her grip, fell, and the post collapsed, striking her.

“We were doing sports, and while many of us left when the sports teacher asked us to, she remained near the goal post. Suddenly, the pole fell and hit her head” a classmate described the scene.

The victim’s uncle, Lobe David, recounted that the family received a call informing them of her injury, but just seven minutes later, they were devastated to learn that she had died. He expressed dissatisfaction with how the school handled the situation. “What surprised us is that my wife told me it was the students who took the corpse to the hospital. That should have been the responsibility of the school authorities. How can the children be the ones transporting her to the hospital after such an accident?” David questioned.

However, students claimed that it was the sports teacher who transported the girl to the hospital.

The victim’s mother, Mirabel, was seen at the school premises, inconsolably shaking the gates and demanding answers about her daughter, who had left home healthy in the  morning.

She, along with other family members, expressed doubts about the school authorities’ account of the events surrounding her daughter’s death.

Local authorities, including the Regional Delegate of Secondary Education for Littoral, arrived at the scene and expressed deep concern over the tragic incident.

Some students who witnessed the scene, reportedly fainted from shock.

The body of the 10-year-old has been taken to the Diedo Mortuary, pending further investigation.