Littoral Region: 19-year-old student killed by heavy-duty truck on way to school

Nineteen-year-old student, Welissane Ekwe Matine, died on her way to school on Tuesday, January 17, when a speeding truck knocked her off a bike at Bekoko, a small town bordering Cameroon’s economic capital Douala.

Reports say the bike had wanted to overtake the truck when it was, unfortunate, crushed, killing Welissane. The other passenger on the bike survived the incident.

The young student’s father was shocked upon hearing the news, but he mustered the courage to speak to MMI.

“My daughter just died this morning on the way to school,” he said.

“According to the explanations given to me, she was on a motorcycle. The motorcycle wanted to overtake a truck and the truck crushed them. They were two, neighbors but the other is fine by the grace of God. She is in the hospital. Really, I don’t know what to tell you,” he said with a heavy heart.

Her body was deposited in the morgue of the Bonassama hospital. According to reports, the young girl was preparing to write the baccalaureate examinations this year.

She is among many students who have died from road accidents lately.

On January 9, two students lost their lives in a similar circumstance in the town of Melong in the Littoral Region.

They were going to school on a motorbike when they were hit by a car. They both died on the spot alongside the bike rider.

To reduce the risks associated with road accidents, Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport published a document on November 17, 2022, reiterating that “vigilance must be increased by professionals in the road transport sector, users and agents responsible for traffic control.”

The government also blames drivers’ recklessness for many accidents on Cameroonian roads.

A study published in 2019 by Cameroonian researchers in collaboration with a delegation of transport, noted that over-speeding and carelessness was one of the principal causes of accidents on Cameroonian roads.

By Amina Hilda