YAOUNDE, Nov. 4 Xinhua | One person died and over 20 others were rescued after a long and narrow canoe sank on Monday off Idenau, a seaside resort town in south-western Cameroon, according to the Cameroon Navy.
Survivors said local fishermen were the first to arrive and rescue passengers when the canoe started sinking.
Rescuers from the Cameroon Navy later joined the fishermen in the rescue operation that was “quite successful”, according to the Navy officials.
One person dove into the sea in an attempt to swim to safety but did not make it, the officials said.
Rescue mission continues to search for “any missing persons”.
The passengers, mostly students and traders of Cameroonian and Nigerian nationalities, were travelling from Mundemba, another Cameroonian town to Idenau by sea.
Passengers in remote areas of Cameroon’s English-speaking region of Southwest now prefer to travel by sea as a result of a separatist conflict that has displaced thousands and killed hundreds in the region.
