Elvis Tah & Walter Wilson Nana
22 February 2008
A truck belonging to a brewery company, Monday, February 18, at about 5 pm, lost control at Great Soppo, Buea, killing the driver and injuring other people.
According to eyewitnesses, the truck loaded with beer came hurtling down the slope at high speed and careened into a pick-up, parked at the roadside and split it into two. The truck skidded along hitting three other cars and crushing a lamp post.
The driver of the truck, Ferdinand Kimbi, in the company of two workmates, Franklin Ndoko and Eli Toko were severely injured.Joseph Mbanda, a Councillor at Buea Rural Council told The Post that Kimbi was flung out through the shattered windscreen. His head and legs were damaged with blood oozing out of the wounds. The trio were rushed to the Provincial Hospital Annex, Buea, where Kimbi died a few minutes later.
Three other victims from the pick-up including a little boy are receiving treatment at the hospital.One of the victims, Ndoko, told The Post that the brakes of their truck failed while they were driving down from Bongo Square. He said they advised the driver to direct the truck towards a wall at Baptist High School, Buea, but he didn't heed.
"As the truck was speeding down, crates of beer were falling off. When I noticed that things were getting worse, I courageously opened the door and jumped out," Ndoko recounted.
The Post learned from one of the brewery staffers that the deceased, Kimbi, was involved in an accident a few months ago, in which he killed three people. The case is still in court.
The Post also gathered that Kimbi's regular sales and distribution town is Limbe. He had made the sales and distribution trip to Buea as a relief for a colleague who was absent on the fateful day.
Scramble For Drinks
As the accident victims were being rushed to the hospital, a crowd pounced on the drinks and helped themselves freely. In the scuffle that ensued, some people slid on the engine oil that had spilled from the truck and fell, wounding themselves on broken bottles.
Thanks to the timely intervention of the forces of law and order, some crates of beer were saved from the throats of the unruly crowd until another truck came and loaded.While some people were quenching their insatiable thirst for alcohol, others looted the driver's safe and made away with a huge sum of money and cell phones.
Others still, were rummaging among the shards of bottles, looking for beer corks, which are currently on freebies.
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