Staff Reporter
CURIOUS and anxious residents of the central part of the Oneshila informal settlement in Oshakati hurried out of their houses and onto the street following a loud “bang” and the sound of speeding vehicles on Friday evening. It was about 19:00 when a speeding sedan, with its lights off, approached from the western direction.
A young man, who had just fetched water from a nearby tap, was walking in the middle of the street pushing a trolley with water containers when patrons at a nearby shebeen started screaming wildly at him to get out of the way quickly. He jumped away just in time before the speeding car slammed into the trolley: a hit-and-run.
An equally speeding police van — with flashing lights — was about 10 seconds behind and caught up with the suspect shortly after, when the fleeing car drove into a water puddle on the dirt road and got stuck in the mud.
Eyewitnesses presented different versions. Some claimed that the fleeing suspect was driving a stolen car. Others said he was carrying containers of illicit fuel.
When contacted for their version of the dramatic event, police spokespersons Thomas Aiyambo and Frieda Shikole said that the incident had not yet been reported to them.
Back at the scene of the loud “bang,” a big crowd gathered to marvel at the fact that no one was injured or even killed. “This street is always full of playing kids this time of the evening, but today it was empty. I see the hand of God here,” said Aina Shigwedha, who rushed out of the house “thinking only about the kids.”
However, the trolley and the water containers were the only casualties.
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