Bus crash: death toll now 28

THE official toll of Namibia’s most deadly road accident rose by one yesterday, when the Police announced that 28 people had been killed when a lorry and a bus collided on the road between Grootfontein and Rundu on Tuesday evening last week.

The Police had been reporting since Wednesday that 25 people died at the scene of the collision some 30 kilometres north of Grootfontein, while another two people died in hospital at Grootfontein. Yesterday that tally changed.Warrant Officer James Matengu of the Police’s Public Relations and Liaison Division, said it had since been ascertained that 26 people, whose names were printed in this newspaper yesterday, had died on the spot.Matengu said the confusion over the number of victims appeared to have been caused by the horrific nature of the fatal injuries.Some bodies had been torn apart, he said.The two people who died in hospital were identified as Levi Kambaza Ndara, aged 28, also from Rundu, and Itjivirue Kauraisa (26), a Namibia Defence Force soldier from Grootfontein.Three people who survived the accident – the truck driver, a passenger in the truck, and a bus passenger – were still being treated in hospital yesterday, according to Matengu.Another survivor, who escaped with minor injuries, was released from hospital at Grootfontein the day after the accident.Yesterday that tally changed.Warrant Officer James Matengu of the Police’s Public Relations and Liaison Division, said it had since been ascertained that 26 people, whose names were printed in this newspaper yesterday, had died on the spot.Matengu said the confusion over the number of victims appeared to have been caused by the horrific nature of the fatal injuries.Some bodies had been torn apart, he said.The two people who died in hospital were identified as Levi Kambaza Ndara, aged 28, also from Rundu, and Itjivirue Kauraisa (26), a Namibia Defence Force soldier from Grootfontein.Three people who survived the accident – the truck driver, a passenger in the truck, and a bus passenger – were still being treated in hospital yesterday, according to Matengu.Another survivor, who escaped with minor injuries, was released from hospital at Grootfontein the day after the accident.