Goreangab ‘swallows’ cellphone thief

THE theft of a cellphone appears to have cost a man his life in Windhoek on Tuesday afternoon, when he disappeared into the Goreangab Dam while being chased by an angry mob.

By yesterday afternoon, there was still no sign of the suspect, despite a Police search that started on Tuesday afternoon. According to eyewitness accounts, the missing man and an accomplice robbed 16-year-old Sandré Louw of her cellphone in Otjomuise on Tuesday.Louw told The Namibian yesterday that she had been on her way home from the Woermann & Brock shopping centre when the men attacked her and grabbed her phone.She screamed for help, she said, and soon an angry mob of community members was chasing one of the suspects, who had separated from his accomplice.Some of the people were armed with pickaxes, The Namibian heard yesterday.The suspect was chased for more than a kilometre until he reached the dam.Witnesses reported yesterday that they saw him throw the cellphone into the bush before taking off his T-shirt and jumping into the water.Police officers investigating the case say they do not have the equipment needed to dive and retrieve a body from the Goreangab Dam.They added that the water was considered too dangerous to enter because of pollution.Eyewitnesses ruled out the possibility that the suspect could have managed to give them the slip.They said they had watched the dam for a long time to see if he would emerge.According to eyewitness accounts, the missing man and an accomplice robbed 16-year-old Sandré Louw of her cellphone in Otjomuise on Tuesday.Louw told The Namibian yesterday that she had been on her way home from the Woermann & Brock shopping centre when the men attacked her and grabbed her phone.She screamed for help, she said, and soon an angry mob of community members was chasing one of the suspects, who had separated from his accomplice.Some of the people were armed with pickaxes, The Namibian heard yesterday.The suspect was chased for more than a kilometre until he reached the dam.Witnesses reported yesterday that they saw him throw the cellphone into the bush before taking off his T-shirt and jumping into the water.Police officers investigating the case say they do not have the equipment needed to dive and retrieve a body from the Goreangab Dam.They added that the water was considered too dangerous to enter because of pollution.Eyewitnesses ruled out the possibility that the suspect could have managed to give them the slip.They said they had watched the dam for a long time to see if he would emerge.