Staff Reporter
A total of 15 people died over the past weekend in two separate car accidents on Sunday.
The first accident claimed the lives of six people in the Zambezi region, near the Chetto settlement, after two bakkies collided head-on at around 10:00 on Sunday morning.
The accident was reported at Gibeon after nine people died on Sunday night when a truck collided with one vehicle and bumped into another.
According to Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi of the Namibian police, the Gibeon accident happened at about 22:30 on the B1 main road between Mariental and Gibeon, approximately 60 km from Mariental.
“It is alleged that the driver of a white Iveco bus was travelling with 23 passengers in the southern direction when he suddenly observed a Scania truck travelling in the opposite direction move over into his lane. To avoid a head-on collision, he allegedly swerved to the left side but was bumped on the side, causing the bus to go off the road and overturn, killing one of the passengers in the bus on the spot,” Deputy Commissioner Shikwambi said.
She added that the truck then proceeded to collide head-on with a Ford Bantam, which was travelling behind the Iveco with eight occupants. The Ford Bantam caught fire upon impact, and all occupants of the Bantam died, with four of them burned beyond recognition.
Twenty-three injured persons were rushed to Mariental Hospital.
The truck driver, a 37-year-old Namibian man, was seriously injured and admitted to Mariental Hospital.
The Iveco driver, a 34-year-old Namibian man, was not injured. The deceased’s next of kin have not yet been informed.
Police investigation continues.
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