This archive report was first published on 30 October 2019.
At least 42 people lost their lives in a devastating landslide that swept through the western Cameroon city of Bafoussam on Tuesday, October 29, 2019, due to torrential rain.
According to state media, the landslide destroyed numerous houses, leaving rescuers to desperately sift through the rubble in search of survivors.
"Searches are ongoing. We fear there are further deaths," a senior local official told AFP on condition of anonymity as nightfall neared.
As of Tuesday evening, a total of 42 bodies had been taken to the hospital in the city, according to an official statement read on Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV).
Earlier reports had estimated the death toll to be around 30, with four pregnant women among the victims, as reported by the radio.
Images of the tragedy in Bafouassam posted on social media showed ramshackle houses having crumbled into the ochre-coloured terrain, with men clad in hard hats digging away at piles of mud in the search for survivors.
The local official explained that the houses that collapsed were built on the side of a hill in a risk zone, making them vulnerable to landslides.
The landslide was caused by torrential rains that have fallen in the country over the past few days, as well as in the wider region, with neighbouring Central African Republic and Nigeria also seriously hit.
Cameroon President Paul Biya offered his condolences to the families of the victims in a message broadcast on CRTV.
While landslides are rare in the area, they are more common in the rainy season, particularly in the English-speaking southwest.
Neighbouring Central African Republic is reeling from 10 days of torrential rain, which have plunged swathes of the country underwater, creating a new emergency in one of the world's poorest nations.
