Two boys died and three others survived after a large heap of sand collapsed on them at Epako settlement at Gobabis on Monday.
National police spokesperson deputy commissioner Kauna Shikwambi says the incident occurred around 13h40 at Kanaan C, where the children had been playing near a large excavated area.
The deceased were identified as Paulus Mukuya (7) and Dennis Eiseb (10).
Shikwambi says a passerby walking from a nearby plot heard children screaming for help and rushed to the site.
Upon arrival, he found three boys trapped under the sand and managed to pull them out.
The survivors told him that two more boys were still buried beneath the heap.
“More sand continued to fall, making it impossible for him to rescue the remaining two children on his own, and he alerted the police,” Shikwambi says.
Emergency teams from the police, the Gobabis municipality, and the Ministry of Health and Social Services were dispatched to the scene.
After prolonged digging efforts, the bodies of the two missing boys were recovered.
They had suffocated to death.
According to Shikwambi, the three survivors were taken to Gobabis State Hospital for trauma care, with one sustaining injuries.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to Gobabis State Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examinations, and all next of kin have been informed.
Police investigations are ongoing.
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