Power later returned to the scene of the accident “to offer her condolences in person”, Foreign Policy quoted a State Department official as saying.
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The ambassador's convoy was moving on a high speed when the boy dashed into the road, the driver lost control and crushed him.
The incident occurred near the small city of Moloko, in northern Cameroon, where Power, her aides and accompanying journalists were headed to meet refugees and others displaced by the years of brutal attacks across West Africa.
The driver was Cameroonian, but press agencies were unable to learn whether he was working for the U.S. Embassy or for one of the local security agencies involved in protecting Power.
The vehicles in the motorcade were going upwards of 60 miles per hour at times, and people lined up on the side of the road as the cars went by.
In 2009, for example, a pedestrian died after being struck by two vehicles that were part of Vice President Biden’s motorcade as it sped along the Suitland Parkway after leaving Andrews Air Force Base.
Power said she met with the child’s family to personally convey her condolences but United States officials would not say whether compensation was offered.
Surprisingly, a 7-year-old boy was said to have dashed into the road, and the sixth auto in the motorcade – an armored Jeep, had no time to swerve away, multiple reports said.
Power, the USA ambassador to the United Nations, said at a news conference that force alone would not rid the region of Boko Haram. A helicopter from the Cameroonian government was overhead, providing aerial security for the fast-moving motorcade, and reportedly witnessed the accident which claimed the boy’s life.
The boy was rushed to a local hospital, though his condition was already hopeless, according to people familiar with the incident.
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The motorcade traveled significantly slower for the rest of the day, according to The Independent. It was not immediately clear whether the child’s family will be compensated for their loss.
