WALVIS BAY – A least seven people died in road accidents in Erongo Region since Friday afternoon while more than 10 sustained minor to serious injuries.
Detective Inspector John Mwatongwe during the crime briefing yesterday afternoon told New Era a 28-year-old woman, Lea Shikongo, died on the spot when the car in which she was a passenger overturned on Saturday night near Dolpin Park.
Shikongo was a member of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) Air Force based in Karibib and was travelling with a male companion at the time of the accident.
The man believed to be her boyfriend allegedly abandoned the accident scene and was later arrested by the police at the nearby sand dunes.
He is suspected of driving under the influence and will appear today in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on a charge of culpable homicide and drunk driving.
Also on Saturday, three people died in a head-on collision between a bakkie and a taxi. The accident happened between Swakopmund and Henties Bay.
According Mwatongwe it appears as if three cars were involved in the accident. He said a bakkie with 11 occupants collided with a taxi that was on its way from Henties Bay to Swakopmund.
The taxi driver died on the spot while his passenger was seriously injured and immediately transported to Windhoek. Two persons in the bakkie also died – one of them on the spot and the other in hospital.
The third accident occurred on Friday afternoon between Usakos and Arandis, in which three people died when a truck rammed into a microbus that was allegedly making a U-turn about 24 kilometres outside Usakos.
The deceased was identified as Sonia Seibes and Susan Namises both 34 years old, and Namises’ husband, Frankie Namaseb.
The couple’s five-year-old daughter survived the horrific accident, police reported.