WORLD
Building collapses in Cameroon, killing at least 37
Baku, July 25, AZERTAC
The death toll from a building collapse in Cameroon's business hub Douala rose to 37 on Monday, July 24, as neighbours recalled the structure's "failings" and "cracks", fearing more bodies lie under the ruins, according to Le Monde.
The four-storey block of flats collapsed onto another residential building in the north of the city overnight on Saturday. One of the worst such tragedies in the country's history, it left 37 people dead and 21 injured, five in critical condition, a senior fire officer and the regional governor told AFP on Monday, warning that the toll could rise.
Cameroon's urban development minister Celestine Ketcha-Courtes, who visited the scene of the tragedy on Monday, told reporters that the ill-fated building "did not have planning permission".
Rescuers were still trying to clear the rubble with a digger after seeking survivors throughout Sunday and Monday, a resident told AFP. Douala's Laquintinie hospital on Sunday said it had taken in 13 patients, two of whom - a three-year-old girl and a woman aged 19 - had died.
