Huge haul as thieves hit Epacha Lodge

ON Tuesday a second high-profile Namibian lodge fell victim to robbers, when four unidentified men ransacked six rooms at Epacha Lodge near Ongava.

It is the second robbery at a tourism establishment in just over two weeks. Although Police Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb was unable to confirm the incident yesterday, Leading Lodges of Africa Group Chairman Paul Van den Vijver said that around N$250 000 worth of money, cameras, jewels and other goods had been stolen from the six rooms.No one was injured, he said, as all the guests were dining in the restaurant.”It was well organised,” Van den Vijver said, adding that staff had reported seeing a red Hyundai sedan drive past the lodge in a suspicious manner earlier in the day.”The lodge was fully booked,” he added, saying that most of the guests were tourists from the United Kingdom and France.Housekeeping staff who were cleaning the rooms were the first on the scene, he said, and they alerted everyone else.A source at the lodge told The Namibian yesterday that the workers had seen four silhouettes making a getaway at around 21h00.Leading Lodges’ Financial Manager, Marion Hubner, said that they found the tracks of four men at the scene.According to Van den Vijver, they immediately alerted the Police and set up roadblocks, but were unable to find the culprits.They had ordered a helicopter to fly over the region, and yesterday morning found a red Hyundai sedan that had overturned close to Kamanjab.”The car was full of blood,” he said, “and we found a gold watch, a cellphone and binoculars.We also found the driver’s license of one of them.”According to Van der Vijver, the company had sent in its own private detective, and around 120 Police officers were involved in the investigation.”We’re making every effort to make sure they (culprits) know that we don’t like this.Our clients and their tour operators were amazed at our fantastic response,” he said.”It was a terrible experience, and something like this has the potential to be very bad for the tourism industry.Some of the guests have to travel home tonight, and now they’ve lost their passports,” he said.On November 6, the Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge at Maltahoehe was targeted by armed robbers.Five men held the manager of the lodge hostage, robbing him of 680 US dollars, 960 South African rands, 3 500 Tanzanian shillings, 10 pounds, 15 Euro, two pistols, a video camera, binoculars and a portable radio.All five suspects were arrested on the same day, the Police reported, and the goods were retrieved after the suspects were caught at a police roadblock near Walvis Bay.Although Police Chief Inspector Hieronymus Goraseb was unable to confirm the incident yesterday, Leading Lodges of Africa Group Chairman Paul Van den Vijver said that around N$250 000 worth of money, cameras, jewels and other goods had been stolen from the six rooms. No one was injured, he said, as all the guests were dining in the restaurant.”It was well organised,” Van den Vijver said, adding that staff had reported seeing a red Hyundai sedan drive past the lodge in a suspicious manner earlier in the day.”The lodge was fully booked,” he added, saying that most of the guests were tourists from the United Kingdom and France.Housekeeping staff who were cleaning the rooms were the first on the scene, he said, and they alerted everyone else.A source at the lodge told The Namibian yesterday that the workers had seen four silhouettes making a getaway at around 21h00.Leading Lodges’ Financial Manager, Marion Hubner, said that they found the tracks of four men at the scene. According to Van den Vijver, they immediately alerted the Police and set up roadblocks, but were unable to find the culprits.They had ordered a helicopter to fly over the region, and yesterday morning found a red Hyundai sedan that had overturned close to Kamanjab.”The car was full of blood,” he said, “and we found a gold watch, a cellphone and binoculars.We also found the driver’s license of one of them.”According to Van der Vijver, the company had sent in its own private detective, and around 120 Police officers were involved in the investigation.”We’re making every effort to make sure they (culprits) know that we don’t like this.Our clients and their tour operators were amazed at our fantastic response,” he said.”It was a terrible experience, and something like this has the potential to be very bad for the tourism industry.Some of the guests have to travel home tonight, and now they’ve lost their passports,” he said.On November 6, the Sossusvlei Mountain Lodge at Maltahoehe was targeted by armed robbers.Five men held the manager of the lodge hostage, robbing him of 680 US dollars, 960 South African rands, 3 500 Tanzanian shillings, 10 pounds, 15 Euro, two pistols, a video camera, binoculars and a portable radio.All five suspects were arrested on the same day, the Police reported, and the goods were retrieved after the suspects were caught at a police roadblock near Walvis Bay.