The US ambassador to the UN has expressed her “great sorrow” after her motorcade accidentally hit and killed a seven-year-old boy in Cameroon.
Samantha Power was in Cameroon to show US support for the campaign against militant Islamist group Boko Haram when the accident happened on Monday.
She said she met the boy’s family to offer “profound condolences”.
An armoured jeep knocked the boy as he tried to cross a road when the convoy was heading towards a refugee camp.
The vehicle that struck the boy stopped, but was then ordered by US security forces to continue travelling through the unsecured area, AP reports.
“Although the boy received immediate medical care from an ambulance in our convoy, he died shortly thereafter,” Ms Power said.
US officials were unable to say whether their government will pay compensation to the boy’s family who lived in a village in northern Cameroon. AFP news agency reports.