Yaounde, Jul 25 (EFE).- At least 33 people have died after a four-story building collapsed in Cameroon, officials said on Tuesday.

The building, which was already housing residents despite still being under construction, collapsed on Sunday at 1am in Douala, Cameroon’s economic hub and largest city.

Eyewitnesses EFE spoke to on Tuesday placed the death toll at 37, a day after Cameroon’s Housing and Urban Development ministry had confirmed 33 deaths.

Nwaha Gaétan, a local resident, told EFE that “the death toll has risen to 37, after the discovery of new bodies under the rubble”.

“We immediately called the fire department, but they arrived more than four hours later with the necessary equipment,” he said.

“For the moment, the search is not over, but rescuers do not have adequate means to find survivors, so the death toll could rise,” Gaétan added.

The governor of the Littoral region, Samuel Ivaha Diboua, said a regional crisis committee has been set up to probe the cause of the collapse, which remains unknown.

Cameroon Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Celestine Keutcha (3-R) is greeted by local officials as she visits the site of a building collapsed in Douala, Cameroon, 24 July 2023. EFE/EPA/DONGMO RODRIGUE WILLIAM

“It is indeed one incident too many, this should no longer happen in our beautiful city if the rules of town planning are respected,” Housing and Development Minister, Celestine Ketcha Courtes, wrote on Twitter.

“A commission will be set up to take stock of the situation, identify responsibilities and a set of measures that will certainly prevent such accidents from occurring in the future,” she added.EFE

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