ONGWEDIVA – Two minor children – aged two and three years respectively – died a horrific death when a fire engulfed a homestead at Onyaluwili village near Outapi last Friday.
At the time of the deadly blaze the children were with their 79-year-old grandmother who miraculously survived the blaze.
It was reported the two deceased and a third child aged four who survived the fire had locked themselves in one of the huts.
Attempts to get the three children to open the hut proved futile although their grandmother on several instances had requested the survivor to hand her the key through the window.
After several attempts to get access into the hut, the 79-year-old grandmother prepared them lunch and placed it by the window before leaving to the mahangu field where she makes clay pots.
Police spokesperson in Omusati Region Sergeant Hesekiel Hamalwa said the granny was waiting for her 14-year- old grandson to return from school to help her break down the door.
Unfortunately when the grandson got home from school the hut was on fire.
“The grandson passed by his grandmother in the mahangu field and they left together to the house to break down the door. However, when they got to the room they were greeted by smoke billowing through the window,” said Hamalwa.
It is reported the boy managed to break through the window and saved one of the boys who is currently receiving treatment in the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital.
The deceased who are said to be cousins were identified as three-year-old Aili Ndapewa Omagano Kashikuka and two-year-old Jerobeam Sunday Ileka.
Police also revealed that a 30-year-old Angolan national Benjamin Petrus Amukwaya died when he received an electrical shock at their home at Iiyayele village in Elim constituency in Oshana Region. It alleged that the deceased and another man were trimming a tree when the incident happened. According to the information provided by the police, Amukwaya and another man were pulling a branch that they had cut from a tree when the branch touched an electric fence running through the mahangu field.
The men were thrown to the ground and one of them died on the spot while the second was resuscitated and is receiving treatment in the Oshikuku hospital.
Two boys also drowned over the weekend. A six-year-old boy drowned in the Ruacana-Oshakati canal while trying to get water to drink. It was reported Kebby Lichah was with a five-year-old girl at the time of the incident.
A 19-year-old Angolan national drowned while swimming with fellow mates in a lake at Okagongo village in Ogongo constituency.