Otjiwarongo: The three people who died in an accident on the Otjiwarongo-Okahandja B1 road after hitting an oil drum last Thursday have been identified.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the Namibian Police Force's head of community affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Senior Inspector Maureen Mbeha, stated on Monday that the deceased were identified by relatives as 36-year-old Hilka Nyumbu, Julio Lourenco, 53, and 84-year-old Berta Dos Anjos Diogo Luis.

Mbeha added that two other occupants in the same vehicle, aged 56 and 25, survived the accident with injuries. The Toyota double cab drove into an oil drum that had been left lying on the road between Otjiwarongo and Okahandja around 23h00 on Thursday. It is suspected that the drum might have fallen from another vehicle.

The accident occurred approximately 72 kilometres south of Otjiwarongo, towards Okahandja. Mbeha mentioned that the 56-year-old driver was traveling from Rundu to Windhoek to take his 84-year-old mother to the hospital.

Police investigations into the matter continue.