Garoua Boulaï Deadly Accident: Touristique Express Pays The Penalty

The inter-urban road transport company, known as Tourtistique Express Sa, has been slammed a one month suspension, eventually renewable, for “serious breach of the regulations in force” which led to the May 9 tragic accident along the Garoua Boulaï-Meiganga axis.

The Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe, announced the suspension alongside other measures in a press release issued May 11. The driving licence of the driver who was involved in the accident, Mohamadou Hamoa, has also been suspended for a period of two years.

In addition, the Minister has announced the set-up of a technical-administrative inspection, by competent services of the Ministry, of the infrastructure and equipment of Touristique Express Company to assess its level of compliance with related specifications.

Fifteen passengers on board the Touristique Express bus lost their lives on May 9 after their vehicle reportedly skidded a badly negotiated bend as it descended a hill in Bindiba, a locality situated some 30km from Garoua Boulaï in the Eastern region. Nineteen other passengers who were on board the 70-seater bus were injured. Among those killed were a 10-year-old child, six women and seven men. The 15th victim died during evacuation to the hospital. The bus was en route to Ngaoundere, capital of the Adamawa region.

The accident has opened another dark episode in the number of deaths on Cameroon’s highways. Cameroon records an average of 16,583 road accidents each year, killing more than 1,000 people, according to official figures, and over 6,000 according to World Health Organisation estimates. 

Despite a decrease in the number of accidents since 2012, thanks to increased user awareness, monitoring as well as control and enforcement activities, the number of road deaths increased over the period 2008-2014, due to an increase in the vehicle fleet (estimated at 675,000 vehicles in 2014).

Besides the dramatic human cost, the related economic losses resulting from accidents are estimated at nearly FCFA 100 billion every year, equivalent to one percent of Gross Domestic Product, GDP.