Seven die in horror crash

Seven die in horror crash

SEVEN people died instantly when a minibus and a Toyota pick-up truck collided at Onankali village, on the Oshivelo-Ondangwa main road, early yesterday morning.

A 10-year-old girl was among those killed. The pick-up burst into flames on impact; the minibus was mangled.Police Liaison Officer for the North, Samuel Hamukonda, said an investigation into the crash had been launched.Four of the people who died have been identified.They are Filippus Iipito (41), his wife Selma (38), their daughter Shoopala (10) and their domestic worker Maria Nakashimba (28).The family were on their way to their village, east of the Ondonga District, in the Mangetti area.The minibus was travelling from the direction of Oshivelo.Iipito was a teacher at Oikango Combined School near Ongwediva, while his wife was a nurse at the Oshakati State Hospital.The other three people who died – two women and a man – were Angolan nationals.Their identities were not known yesterday.Witnesses said the Iipito couple burned to death inside the bakkie; their daughter Shoopala, and Nakashimba, who were in the back of the pick-up, were thrown out of the vehicle on impact.A witness said the accident occurred just before sunrise as people were preparing to go and work in their mahangu fields.”We suddenly heard a loud bang.Later we saw fire on the road and we rushed to to the scene.All the people were already dead when we got there,” the witness said.Police officers from Onankali arrived at the scene quickly but were unable to extinguish the fire that had engulfed the bakkie.The pick-up burst into flames on impact; the minibus was mangled.Police Liaison Officer for the North, Samuel Hamukonda, said an investigation into the crash had been launched.Four of the people who died have been identified.They are Filippus Iipito (41), his wife Selma (38), their daughter Shoopala (10) and their domestic worker Maria Nakashimba (28).The family were on their way to their village, east of the Ondonga District, in the Mangetti area.The minibus was travelling from the direction of Oshivelo.Iipito was a teacher at Oikango Combined School near Ongwediva, while his wife was a nurse at the Oshakati State Hospital.The other three people who died – two women and a man – were Angolan nationals.Their identities were not known yesterday.Witnesses said the Iipito couple burned to death inside the bakkie; their daughter Shoopala, and Nakashimba, who were in the back of the pick-up, were thrown out of the vehicle on impact.A witness said the accident occurred just before sunrise as people were preparing to go and work in their mahangu fields.”We suddenly heard a loud bang.Later we saw fire on the road and we rushed to to the scene.All the people were already dead when we got there,” the witness said.Police officers from Onankali arrived at the scene quickly but were unable to extinguish the fire that had engulfed the bakkie.

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