At least 4 dead and dozens are missing in Cameroon after landslide

YAOUNDE, Cameroon -- At least four people died and over 50 are missing in the west of Cameroon after three passenger buses and several road workers were caught in a landslide, authorities said Wednesday.

Torrential rains weakened the soil and lead do the landslide on Tuesday, Cameroon’s Minister of Public Work Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi said after visiting the site of the disaster, a stretch of a highway linking Dschang in the West Region of Cameroon and the country’s economic capital of Douala.

Only four bodies have been retrieved from the rubbles, while dozens of others are still buried in the debris, he added.

“I’ve asked that rescued victims be taken to the mortuary, while survivors should be fully taken care of in order that they’re quickly relieved of their pains,” Djoumessi said.

The disaster comes as West Africa has experienced some of the heaviest flooding in decades this year, killing more than 1,000 people and displacing hundreds of thousands across the region.

“The earth collapses have become common in Cameroon and the world in recent months and roads in these regions have become dilapidated,” said the governor of the West Region, Augustin Awa Fonka.

The Minister of Public Work blamed the torrential rain that caused the landslide on climate change.

While Africa is responsible for a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is among the regions most vulnerable to extreme weather events, the World Meteorological Organization said earlier this year.