A fire tore through an overcrowded maximum security prison in Cameroon’s port city of Douala on Thursday leading to the hospitalisation of three prisoners with serious burns, a local fire chief said.

Prominent Cameroonian human rights activist Beatrice Titanji leapt for joy when a major secessionist group declared a ceasefire on 29 March to protect people from the "fury" of coronavirus in the central African state's English-speaking heartlands, but her hopes have since been dashed as fighting continues to rage.

Cameroon’s aged president is coming under fire for his absence from the national stage as the central African country faces a burgeoning coronavirus crisis.

Despite preventive messages and recommendations announced by the Cameroonian government in dealing with the rising cases of the new coronavirus, many are not adhering to these measures.

Cameroon’s international partners including France and the United Nations have condemned last week’s killing of 23 villagers in a troubled English-speaking region.