19 September 2009
Five students have been killed in Cameroon by thunder which struck their school. The thunder is reported to have struck Government Secondary School, Mbetpaw in Bamali, Ndop Centre in the Ngokentunjia Division, in the North West Region of Cameroon killing the five students and injuring over 35 others.
cameroon map
According to a local newspaper, the incident occurred at about 9 am on Tuesday. The Deputy Mayor of Ndop, Someta Amour Amanbeh, is quoted by the newspaper as confirming the story in a telephone chat.

According to the Mayor, he was in his house when he saw people running towards the school. He said he also decided to join them to the scene.

On arriving at the scene, he found ten students struck but not yet dead .He said he was later joined by the Mayors of Bamali and Bamunka who rushed the victims to the hospital.

Five of them died immediately after being transported to the hospital, while
35 others were also later taken to the hospital.

Reports say those who sustained slight injuries were treated and discharged from the hospital a few hours later.

Eyewitnesses say it happened so suddenly and swiftly that it has overwhelmed the resident of Ndop with surprise.

Other eyewitness accounts claimed that only a few seconds before the incident, a dog was seen around the scene and it is believed that it had something to do with the thunder.

An eyewitness who refused to be named said such a thing has never happened in his entire stay in the division. To him it was pure witchcraft.

Indigenes of the area, resident in other parts of the country, particularly in the political capital, Yaounde are reported to have been rushing home to see things for themselves and to find out whether their relatives were involved in the mishap.

The Minister of Secondary Education is equally reported to have sent a high powered delegation to Ndop to assess the situation.

africanews