Ongwediva
A truck driver broke both legs, while three other people suffered minor injuries when the truck they were apparently partying in swerved off the road and crashed into a nearby houses.
The truck hit and damaged one shack in Oshakati before it smashed into the bathroom of a nearby house at around 20h00 on Sunday evening.
Eyewitnesses said the truck missed a pothole in the road before it “flew off the road”. Residents of the damaged shacks told New Era they were sitting outside when they saw the truck moving rapidly in their direction.
“We ran away when we saw the truck flying from the road. There was a lady bathing in the smashed house, but she too escaped unhurt,” said a neighbour.
It is alleged that the driver of the truck, an employee at Kambwa Trading, took the truck without permission and went on a drinking spree with his friends that day.
Some neighbours, who were present on Monday morning when the truck was being removed from the scene, claimed it took almost half an hour to remove the inebriated driver from the truck.
Some neighbours also reported that the group in the vehicle was drunk and that alcohol bottles and chicken bones were found in the truck.
“One was just laughing when he was removed from the truck,” said an eyewitness at the scene. Onlookers were taken aback on Monday, with some clapping their hands to signal their shock over the unusual incident.
Owner of Kambwa Trading David Sheehama confirmed that the truck was taken without authorisation. The truck was removed from a site at Ehenye in Oshakati, where Kambwa is building gravel roads.
“We don’t work on Sundays. He just took the truck before the security guard came,” Kambwa said.
Police Regional Commander in Oshana Region Commissioner Rauha Amwele confirmed the incident, but by Monday could not yet provide a comprehensive report about the event.
Commissioner Amwele could also not confirm what charges have been laid against the driver – who has not yet been named – but confirmed that a case has been opened against the driver.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the driver and his group were rushed to the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital, but the police could not confirm whether the driver and passengers were hospitalised.