Yaounde, Cameroon—Calm is
gradually returning to Yaounde after a clandestine cooking gas warehouse caught
fire on Saturday November 22, 2014 leading to explosions that left inhabitants
of some neighborhoods of the town in a state of pandemonium.
Inhabitants of Etoudi-Abatoire, near the presidential palace-scene of
the explosion say the cooking gas vendor whose names we could not get at the
time of this report, was manipulating the 12KG gas bottles, reducing its
contents and filling other empty bottles before it caught fire. The fire that
lasted several hours before being masterminded by the firefighting brigade has
left serious material damages.
The explosions left inhabitants of the capital city wondering as most of
them considered it as a terrorist attack given the insecurity that currently
prevails in the Northern part of the country.
Neighboring inhabitants to the cooking gas retailer; mostly Muslims told
this reporter that when the explosions started, they immediately rush to a
church in Etoudi for solace as they thought it as an attack by the Nigerian
sect, Boko Haram.
Beside houses, vehicles and other valuable materials that were damaged,
the explosions burnt down electricity cables and poles close to the warehouse
that was completely consumed by the flames leading to blackouts in most neighborhoods
of the capital city.
According to some eye witnesses we met at the scene on Sunday November
23, 2014 the incident left about 11 people dead. Some neighbours however say
several people sustained injuries and were rushed to the Yaounde Gynaco
Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital in Ngousso. At the time of this report, our
efforts of getting the hospital officials comment on the issue were fruitless.
Roland Kintari an inhabitant of the Etou-Abatoire neighborhood told this
reporter he immediately thought about the Burkina Faso scenario when the
explosions started.
The area has been put under military surveillance since the Saturday and
workers of the electricity company are working to replace the burnt cables
while specialized services are also on the field to establish the real cause of
the fire as well as the level of human and material damages.
By Ndi Eugene Ndi
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