Eighteen people died tragically on Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday morning in two separate road accidents that occurred at Okahandja along the B1 road.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) spokesperson in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha in an interview with Nampa on Friday said 15 people including a baby died in the 16-seater passenger bus they were travelling in after it collided with a Volkswagen sedan at 14 kilometres north of Okahandja.

Mbeha said the bus was travelling from the direction of Okahandja, and the sedan from Otjiwarongo.

According to Mbeha this collision occurred in the early hours of Friday between 03h00 and 04h00.

It is alleged that the sedan first hit a wild animal, and this allegedly caused the driver to lose control over it, colliding head-on with the bus which was oncoming, she said.

“Both vehicles burst into flames due to the severe impact,” Mbeha stated.

Fourteen people in the bus burned beyond recognition, while the other victim in the sedan also died on the spot. The deceased people were all transported to a mortuary in Windhoek where the identification process is expected to start through DNA forensic sampling.

Mbeha thus calls on close relatives of the deceased to contact the Windhoek police in order to assist them in a DNA sampling method that would lead to identification of the bodies.

In the other accident, three people also died after the Uno Fiat they were travelling in collided head-on with an Audi at approximately five kilometres south of Okahandja.

Mbeha said the three deceased in the Fiat were identified as 51-year-old Engenesia Tjipitua, Petorua Tjipitua, 25, and three-year-old boy, Uvanga Tjipitua.

The 37-year-old male driver of the Audi survived the accident with severe injuries.

Police investigations in both incidents continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency