Windhoek
The police have warned the families of the 15 people who recently died in a horror accident near Casablanca settlement along the Oshivelo road to be wary of fraudsters who are calling family members and asking for money, purportedly for the identification process to be completed faster.
Fifteen people died on the spot when a truck and minibus collided head-on and caught fire near the Casablanca settlement last week. Thirteen of the passengers were burned beyond recognition. The National Scientific Forensic Institute (NSFI) is still waiting for DNA samples from direct biological relatives in order to identify the victims.
Updating the media regarding the ongoing forensic investigations into the accident on Sunday, Maryn Swart, chief forensic scientist at the NSFI, called on the direct biological relatives of the deceased who have not yet submitted DNA samples to do so at the nearest mortuary or the NSFI as soon as possible.
Swart said it would help with the positive identification of the deceased.
“It should be from the mother and father, not from distant relatives, such as cousins, either brothers or sisters,” she added.
Nampol’s head of media relations, Chief Inspector Kauna Shikwambi, last week also called upon family members of the deceased, preferably their parents, or siblings with the same biological mother, to visit the Windhoek Police Mortuary for DNA identification purposes.
She said the police can only release the names of the victims once the forensic institute’s examinations have been completed.