DAKAR (Reuters) - A vehicle in the motorcade of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations struck and killed a young boy in Cameroon on Monday during a visit to the Lake Chad region where countries have been targeted by the Boko Haram group.
Samantha Power, who is visiting Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad, said the boy was hit by a vehicle in a motorcade carrying U.S., U.N. and Cameroonian officials. Medics in the convoy treated him but he died of his injuries.
"I joined the (Cameroonian) governor of the area ... the leading U.N. official who manages the humanitarian and development response and Ambassador Hoza, and we visited with the boy's family to offer our profound condolences," she said in a speech.
Power also described meeting refugees and called for financial support from the international community to aid the development of areas battered by Boko Haram.
Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad are contributing forces to fight the group. Power has been scheduled to visit the region's Multinational Joint Task Force, which is staffed with troops from the three nations as well as Niger and Benin.
The United States has sent troops and drones and offered to send a special operations mission to the fight against Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is believed to have killed 15,000 people.
(Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Richard Balmforth)