By Magreth Nunuhe
WINDHOEK – The community of Agste Laan (Eighth Avenue) informal settlement on the outskirt of Otjomuise say they live in constant fear of being run over by cars while sleeping in their shacks.
Cars have in the past few years ploughed into more than six houses made of corrugated iron sheets at the settlement.
The latest incident occurred on Saturday when a Toyota Rav4 vehicle reportedly driven by a man who was under the influence of liquor drove into four shacks, killing a two-year-old girl that was asleep.
“At most times the drivers are drunk, while the roads are very steep,” said Ripurua Mumbongo, the aunt of the two-year-old who died early on Saturday.
The residents are asking for help from government and good Samaritans to help them acquire metal bars to barricade their houses to protect them from such accidents. They also requested communal floodlights for drivers to see where they are going.
Uvangwa Kandjii, 2, died instantly while her mother, Gisela Kandjii, sustained severe injuries to her face, legs and arms when the corrugated iron sheets cut into her flesh in the accident.
A neighbour, Diana Jahanika, said at around 01h00 she was awakened by a loud bang against her shack and she jumped up in confusion.
“I heard screams from a woman asking to help find her daughter,” she related, adding that upon investigating outside she saw that a car had hit her shack on one side before it mowed down Kandjii’s house, destroying another shack where fortunately there were no occupants at the time of the crash.
The Rav4 came to a standstill after running into a fourth shack and missing the occupants by a few metres.
Occupants of the Rav4 fled the scene.
The Namibian Police Deputy Commissioner Sylvanus Nghishindimbwa confirmed the accident and said the owner of the vehicle claimed that someone else drove the car without his consent, but he (the owner) was arrested as a suspect.
Nghishindimbwa said that until someone else comes forward to claim he drove the car, the owner remained the suspect of the fateful accident.
Kandjii’s father, William Katjingisiua, said his daughter who was admitted to the Katutura State Hospital was in a stable condition but was also being treated for shock.
In 2011 a truck ploughed into a small shack in the same vicinity, killing a woman and seriously injuring her husband, while their child sustained minor injuries.
The deceased, who was a mother of three, died tragically after sustaining injuries to her head and body.
The husband was admitted to the Katutura State Hospital with a broken leg.
The truck mowed down everything in its path including the shack, until it came to a standstill in a ditch.