UN Ambassador's Motorcade Hits, Kills Boy in Cameroon

Megan Duzor, VOA News
18 April 2016

A vehicle in a motorcade transporting Samantha Power, the United States' ambassador to the United Nations, struck and killed a young boy Monday while traveling through northern Cameroon.

A U.S. official said the accident occurred near the northern town of Maroua where Power was visiting refugee camps and talking with officials about the threat of Boko Haram Islamist militants in the region.

According to news reports, villagers had lined the roadside to watch the motorcade speed by when a seven-year-old boy darted into the road. One of the cars in the motorcade, an armored Jeep, was not able to serve away. The driver is reported to be Cameroonian.

U.S. officials say Power later returned to the scene of the accident and visited the family of the young boy to offer her condolences.

The Associated Press reports the motorcade was moving quickly, at times exceeding 60 mph. It said the vehicle that hit the boy initially stopped, but was told by U.S. security officials to keep moving through the unsecured area. An ambulance in the U.S. caravan did stop and rushed the boy to a local hospital.

U.S. officials say the area was near recent instances of violence by Boko Haram Islamist militants.