KUMBA DISTRICT HOSPITAL ON FIRE

 

4 die of fire, 5 Cars burnt in Kumba District hospital inferno 

Local authorities in Kumba have said four patients who were receiving treatment at the District hospital in Kumba have died after the health establishment went up in flames early this morning. 

"Two of the victims have been identified while we are yet to identify the two others" a source told Mimi Mefo Info. 

At least five vehicles were set on fire while the 

Nurses quarters, male medical, male and female surgical, Gen room among others were brought down to ashes. 

The incident has left patients and Medical personnel of the affected area stranded. 

One of them who can barely walk recounted:

"The amba boys came into the hospital. We were scared of the boys, but instead the boys ask us to move out" recounted a victim. 

Another witness on the ground had a contrary oppinion: "The military has been carrying out a lot of operations in civilian attire lately. Amba boys cannot set ablaze a Hospital where they or their relatives sometimes receive treatment."

Earlier today, a Gendarme officer on the basis of anonymity said the hospital was set ablaze by the military because it treats wounded Amba fighters.

As at now, the person(s) or group responsible isn't clear enough.

Lives are now at stake as dialysis services in the hospital has have been interrupted.

ABOUT 36 PASSENGERS KIDNAPPED ALONG THE BUEA - KUMBA HIGHWAY

Jan. 15/01/2919 about Thirty-six passengers were abducted by gunmen on Tuesday along the Buea-Kumba highway in the Southwest, one of the two war-torn English-speaking regions of Cameroon, according to locals.

"Two transport buses left Kumba for Buea and were stopped at Ediki village by gunmen. All passengers were ordered to step down and hand over their identification cards. They were then taken to the bush to an unknown destination. The bus drivers were ordered to return to the bus stop in Kumba," Samuel Asong, a driver who witnessed the incident, says so.

Movement along the highway has been halted and the search for the hostages has been launched, according to local authorities.

Cases of kidnapping are on the rise amid escalating conflict in the troubled English-speaking regions of the largely French-speaking African country.

In November, a group of 79 school children was kidnapped in Bamenda, the most populous city of Northwest, another English-speaking region.

The Cameroonian government has blamed armed separatists for the rampant abductions but the separatists insist they are staged by government to tarnish their "struggle for independence" internationally.

The United Nations estimates that more than 430,000 people have been displaced internally since government forces started clashing with armed separatists in November 2017.

The separatists are fighting to secede from Cameroon and create a nation called "Ambazonia" in the two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.