By Eveline de Klerk

SWAKOPMUND/OMUTHIYA – Two people lost their lives in Erongo Region on Wednesday evening when a light truck collided with a passenger car, while three people died in Oshikoto Region earlier the same day when a passenger car overturned after the driver lost control of the vehicle.

In Erongo Region the police said a light truck collided with a Mercedez Benz just outside Swakopmund. The two occupants, the driver of the truck 24-year-old Joel Lungameni and 42-year old Martha Davids died on the spot.

Police in Oshikoto Region said three people who were travelling in a Toyota Avanza died when the driver, 39-year-old Brian Conolly Zaaruka, lost control of the vehicle at a place called Oniingo on the road between Ondangwa and Oshivelo.

The accident took place at 17:40 and resulted in the death of three of the vehicle’s four occupants including the driver. They all perished at the scene of the accident. Their next of kin had not yet been informed. The sole survivor, 21-year-old David Kambonde, was admitted to hospital with facial injuries.

The cause of the accident in Erongo Region, according to the crime investigations coordinator, Chief Inspector Erastus Iikuyu, was the driver of the truck. He failed to obey a stop sign and his vehicle plunged into the passenger car.

The truck driver was on his way to Walvis Bay and was making use of the gravel road before turning onto the B2 road that leads to the coast, while the  Mercedez Benz was travelling from Swakopmund in the direction of Arandis.

According to Iikuyu, six people were seriously injured in the same accident, but their condition was said to be stable.

It was the second fatal accident in Erongo in a matter of days. Last week Saturday a 35-year-old woman from Otjiwarongo,  Estelle Louw, and a male passenger died on the spot in a horrific accident when the car they were travelling collided with a Land Cruiser at Walvis Bay. Two other passengers in the car sustained injuries and one of the two were transferred to Windhoek for treatment. The four occupants of the car had attended a wedding in Walvis Bay and were on their way home to Otjiwarongo.

Police said the driver of the Land Cruiser failed to heed a stop sign and collided with the sedan. The driver was identified as  the 20-year-old Jean Cilliers and was arrested on the spot.

He appeared yesterday in the magistrate’s court and was charged with culpable homicide, and drunk and reckless driving. He was granted N$9 000 bail. The case was postponed.