Many people were roasted to ashes on April 28, 2016, after a fire engulfed three vehicles at an accident site, 111 km from Yaounde on the highway to Ayos.

The Presidency has extended condolences to those who lost relations in the accident near Ayos in the Centre Region on April 28, 2016. The condolence message was signed on behalf of President Paul Biya by the Secretary General in the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. Meanwhile, government has also ordered a full investigation into the incident.

On April 30, 2016 in Mbang I, a little village located 12 km from Ayos in the Centre Region, the stench of roast human flesh still hung in the air. Three days after the double accident at 8.30 pm in the village located 111 km from Yaounde on the highway to Ayos, the remains of one of the trucks involved were still smouldering. This is after fire fighters from Yaounde had been to the scene two times to put out the inferno that blocked vehicle movements until about 1 pm on April 29, 20016.

According to the Secretary of State for National Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam, seven corpses were recovered from the 70-seat bus belonging to Melo Voyages travelling from Yaounde to Bertoua, which initially provoked the accident. Scores of wounded passengers were taken to hospital while many others still to be accounted for are believed to have perished in the fire.

Jean Baptiste Bokam blamed the poor parking of the heavy-duty truck for the tragedy, saying authorities have ordered a high-level inquiry into what happened. He also promised stern measures against stubborn truck drivers, saying he was going to seek the services of other State agencies in clearing highways of poorly parked or abandoned trucks.

As at now, it is difficult to say how many people died in the accident until thorough checks are made with Melo Voyages in Yaounde to see if there is another copy of the manifest. Since the bus and all its contents were burnt, there was no ready copy of the manifest at the accident site. Moreover, since the bus had about 83 passengers on board instead of 70 as recommended, it might never be possible to know the names of the extra 13 people who were picked up on the way.

The Director of the Ayos Annex Regional Hospital, Dr Nomo Eteme Martial, told Cameroon Tribune in his office on April 30, 2016 that 57 wounded victims were admitted in hospital, but all had since been discharged, except for the three referred to the Yaounde Central Hospital. Seven corpses were also transferred from Ayos Annex Regional Hospital Mortuary to the Yaounde Central Hospital on April 29, 2016, where they were received by the Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda.

A gendarmerie source in Ayos said among the seven corpses, two were identifiable because they were crushed on the road. But the five others pulled out from the inferno were burnt beyond recognition. Alongside the seven corpses transferred to Yaounde were an unidentified arm and leg.

According to Ebollo Gaston, 22, from Mbang I village who took part in the rescue operations, said a 32-tonne truck with registration number LTSR 317 AI parked on the side of the straight stretch of road running through the village was hit by the Melo Voyages bus travelling from Yaounde to Bertoua in the East Region. As a result, the truck, transporting American government soya beans relief material, was catapulted into the forest, with a large portion of its content spilled on the road. On its part, the bus overturned and ended up in the middle of the road.

An empty timber truck returning from Yaounde stopped at the scene and switched on its lights to facilitate the rescue of passengers trapped in the bus. About six minutes after, an onrushing truck from the Ayos end carrying sewn timber, ran into the Melo bus, pulling it on the tar for about 100 metres.

According to villagers and local security sources in Ayos, it is then that the bus burst into flames, which soon engulfed the truck with sewn timber and the one providing lights for rescue. It is strongly believed that the bus must have been transporting gallons of petrol, which facilitated the fire, given that all three vehicles involved in the accident blaze used gas, which is not easily flammable. Ebollo Gaston said the inferno was so huge that a man who rushed from the village to help rescue trapped passengers was roasted to ashes.

Passengers trapped in the bus yelled for help before being roasted to ashes in front of helpless villagers and passersby. It was finally at about 1 am in the morning of April 29, 2016 that fire fighters arrived from Yaounde. Their efforts only slowed down the ferocity of the inferno. They then returned to Yaounde and came back later on in the day to put out the blaze, thereby helping to open up blocked traffic at about 1 pm.