By Hoandi !Gaeb Mariental Mariental State hospital, one of Namibia’s best health facilities was nearly burnt down on Sunday after a fire broke out in its laundry section. The cause of the fire is believed to be an electrical short circuit. The incident would have spelt disaster as it happened on the same day and only an hour before the horrific accident between Rehoboth and Kalkrand, which claimed the lives of 12 people. New Era has it on good authority that a catastrophe was averted through the watchful eye of a local private medical doctor. Speculation has it that an electrical short circuit caused the fire in the hospital’s laundry which spread rapidly before the private medical practitioner, who was visiting his patients at the time, switched off the main power supply unit on time. Twelve people, including four children died tragically at around 18h00 some 30 km north of Kalkrand after a collision between a pick-up truck and a minibus. The bakkie burnt out completely and one of its passengers was cremated alive. It is believed that a sedan car was overtaking a bakkie when the accident occurred. The sedan car tried to get back to its lane, but collided with the pick-up from behind and forced it to land in the same lane as the approaching minibus. The people in the minibus were on their way back from Mariental after attending a meeting of the Elim Pentecostal Church at the town. Governor of the Hardap region Katrina Hanse was among the first people to arrive at the Mariental State Hospital where medical staff was battling to attend to those injured. She expressed shock and dismay at the accident in which so many people lost their lives, and called on the relevant authorities to properly deal with ” road hooligans”. Meanwhile, the police have released the names of some of the victims of the horror crash because other victims had not been identified by relatives. The deceased identified so far are Anton Johannes (33), Eliaser Moss (7), Julias Kolonelius (39), Helena Uiras (46), Johny Japhet Karigub (25), Iino G. Kambonde Ntinda (39), Hendrick Moss (50), and Eva Priscilla Nero (25).