At least 15 people have been killed and 19 others injured in a bus accident in Cameroon, local police said.

The tragedy occurred Tuesday afternoon in a village along the highway linking the East and Adamawa regions.

Police said the driver of the bus, which was heading to Adamawa regional chief town of Ngaoundere, lost control, and the vehicle crashed and then exploded because it was also transporting fuel.

Cameroon Radio Television, the state television, reported that a three-year-old child was among the dead. Local media reported that seven women were also killed.

The injured were rushed to hospital and “are under intensive medical care,” the police said.

The Cameroonian Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the central African nation.

Source: Xinhuanet