US gov’t compensates family of child killed
by UN car
Samantha Power visited a camp after the crash for
those made homeless by Boko Haram
|
The US has compensated the family of a
Cameroon boy who was struck and killed by a vehicle in UN Ambassador Samantha
Power's motorcade.
The
ambassador's convoy was moving at high speed when the seven-year-old was
fatally hit in April.
The
US provided the family with FCFA one million (£1,257).
The
boy's family also received two cows, flour, onions, rice, salt, sugar, soap and
oil, according to the Associated Press news agency.
The
US said it would also build a well to provide fresh drinking water for the
boy's community, located near the northern city of Mokolo, according to state
department officials.
Department
spokesman Jeffrey Loree described the contribution as a "compensation
package commensurate with local custom, as well as the needs of the family and
village".
"US
diplomats have visited the family on several occasions following the accident
and will continue to provide all support possible," he added.
Ms
Power was on a week-long trip to show US support in the battle against militant
Islamist group Boko Haram when the accident occurred.
The
boy, BirweToussem, was among villagers lined up along a two-way highway to
greet the ambassador.
He
ran onto the street as the motorcade drove by at about 60mph (100km/h).
An
armoured jeep struck the boy, initially stopping, before US security ordered it
to continue travelling through the unsecured area, the AP reports.
An
ambulance in the caravan immediately responded to the scene, but the boy died
shortly thereafter.
Cameroon's
government, local aid organisations and the UN also donated 5m francs to the
family, bringing the pay-out to more than $10,000 (£7,393).
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