According to Cameroon's Communication Minister, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, a fire in a nightclub in the capital city of Yaounde has killed at least 16 people. Sadi went on to say that the incident occurred at Liv's Night Club Yaouba on Sunday about 2:30 a.m. local time.
"The incident, which was caused by explosions resulting from fireworks commonly used in this area, first consumed the ceiling of the building, resulting in two high-amplitude explosions and causing panic and jostling among the people present inside the nightclub," he said in a statement, adding that eight people were "seriously injured" and taken to the hospital.
As the club filled with smoke, witnesses told Xinhua that more than 100 people, largely young adults, stampeded for the only available exit. Arnold Samba, who was treated for minor injuries and discharged from the hospital, recalled the club as bursting into flames.
"The entire ceiling caught fire in less than ten seconds. We ran to a single door in the following five minutes. People were shoving each other aside and urging those who were already dead to leave the club and remain alive "Samba spoke to the media.
Several top government officials paid a visit to the disaster scene early Sunday, expressing the government's willingness to assist the victims. Nightclub fire disasters are regular in Cameroon, but Sunday's incident is the deadliest in the Central African nation, according to the police.
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