A female passenger died on board a Vatican Express travel agency bus during a trip from Bamenda to Douala on December 17, 2024.
Witnesses have raised serious concerns about the agency’s poor vehicle maintenance and unprofessional conduct.
Passengers report that the bus encountered multiple mechanical failures along the journey, causing significant delays and frustration.
Efforts to reach the agency’s headquarters for assistance were met with hostility, according to accounts from those on board.
“We called them and requested that they send another bus, but we were rather insulted,” one passenger recounted.
A woman on board, apparently ill, had to rely on medications to sustain herself during the tedious journey.
“Before we reached halfway through our trip, the said lady removed her medications and took them,” another passenger shared.
But when the bus stopped at Melong for passengers to eat, this woman was gone.
She was found dead. However, MMI cannot ascertain if her death was linked to the vehicle breakdown and delays registered on the way.
Passengers Complain of Long Delays
The bus, which departed Bamenda in the morning, was expected to reach Douala by evening on the same day.
However, delays stretched into the night, leaving passengers only halfway to their destination.
“Travel agency management is only focusing on making profits without maintaining their buses,” a frustrated passenger remarked.
This incident highlights a recurring issue within Cameroon’s intercity transport sector.
State of transport vehicles has been major concern among inter-urban transport vehicles in Cameroon.
A study conducted in 2021 listed the poor state of vehicles among six main causes of 382 accidents that occurred along the Douala-Dschang road between 2018 and 2019.
Other causes included speed and carelessness, location of the accident, day the accident occurred, time of the accident and the age of drivers involved.
Although studies like this firmly recommended regular vehicle maintenance, it appears travel agencies are not heeding the advice.
Passengers noted that Vatican Express is not the only travel agency with problems relating to vehicle breakdown.
A Nso Boyz agency bus traveling from Limbe to Bamenda on Sunday, December 15, reportedly broke down several times before finally stopping at Melong.
This left passengers stranded for three days.
As of this report, Vatican Express has yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.
The tragedy has reignited public outcry for stricter regulations and oversight in the transport sector to ensure passenger safety and vehicle maintenance.
