Family Buries Three Children Killed in Likomba Fuel Tanker Accident

By Njodzeka Kernyuy 

All Engel Clara Chimeze ever wanted was to go to school and read law at the university. She was so dedicated to her studies.  This academic year, she was hoping to accomplish another step in her education journey. 

The 15-year-old student of Apex Secondary School, Tiko, was in Form Five and months away from writing the General Certificate of Education, GCE Ordinary Level.

However, that dream of reading law at the university will never be possible. 

On the fateful morning of Friday, December 12, she dressed up for school and left the house with her little twins – Mark Williams Chimeze and Winnie Joy Chimeze (eight years old).

They bid farewell to their mother, Yatah Zitah, and father, Chimeze Donatus Ejike, as they headed for school in a taxi.

Descending from Mutengene to Tiko, they had a view of the beautiful palm plantation which they have always seen every school day. 

But this particular morning was the last time they were saying goodbye to their parents or having this beautiful view. 

About 4.7 kilometers from home, their lives on earth came to an abrupt end a few minutes after 7 am.

What Happened?

A fuel tanker crashed on their vehicle and several others, causing a massive fire that left at least eight deaths. The three siblings were among.

The tanker, despite having been prohibited from circulating on the highway between 7 am and 9 pm, had left Cameroon’s oil refinery, SONARA, in Limbe for Douala, passing through Tiko.

The tanker was fully loaded with petrol, according to eyewitness testimony. The Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena Ngale Bibihe, said the driver was reckless. 

Just after descending the hill separating Mutengene from Tiko, the tanker tragically crashed at a locality called Likomba. 

According to witness testimonies, the driver was trying to dodge a pothole in the middle of the road when the vehicle ramped into other cars that were coming from Douala.

The intensity of the crash brought down a concrete-built high-tension electricity pole. The result was a huge explosion that ravaged humans, cars and houses.

That was how Clara and her twin siblings were caught in the blast, ending their lives. 

Their father said when it happened, the driver of the taxi came out and tried to rescue the children, but the flames would not allow it. Unfortunately for the driver too, he died in the hospital.

Children Buried On Christmas Eve

While Christmas Day was full of joyous activities for many, for the friends of Clara, Williams and Joy, it was a sad moment.

The father, Chimeze Ejike, said his children and other children around the house in Mutegene have always spent Christmas together. Unfortunately, all their plans this year were thwarted by death.

“Their friends could not celebrate,” the father tells us.
“We are still grieving,” he added.

The twins were in Class Four at FOAMEF Tiko and would have completed primary school in two years if the accident had not happened.

Last Tuesday, they were all buried in Mutegene after a church service.

While officials responsible for road safety and those of the oil company might be having a good time during Christmas, the family and friends of Clara, Williams and Joy and other victims of the Likomba accident will always bring sad memories to them.