Grim holiday death toll: 68

AT least 68 people have died on Namibian roads this holiday season, according to information compiled by the Police.

This number is 27 more than in the same period last year, when 41 people died in road accidents. During the New Year’s weekend, seven people died in road accidents countrywide.Early on Friday morning, a young Windhoek resident and cricket player, Marc Olivier, died on the notoriously dangerous road between Okahandja and Karibib.Olivier had been on his way to the coast, when a Toyota Condor apparently slammed into his Hyundai from behind.Olivier’s vehicle overturned, and he died on the scene.Police yesterday were still trying to trace the driver of the Condor.Outside Windhoek, five Indian citizens died near Brakwater on New Year’s Eve, while en route to Walvis Bay.Their car apparently collided with a double-cab bakkie.Police have reported that 17 people were travelling in the bakkie.The passengers in the bakkie sustained various degrees of injury, ranging from light to serious, while only one occupant in the sedan, a five-year-old girl, survived.The deceased have been identified as Sharat Diwakar (39), Namita Diwakar (29), Amitava Saha (45), Namita Saha (39) and Ayonika Saha (6).They were members of two families who were on holiday together.The girl who survived the accident, Niharika Diwakar (5), is currently being held in the Intensive Care Unit of the Windhoek Central hospital.Her condition remains critical.Other fatal accidents include one that happened approximately 25 km from Otjiwarongo and resulted in nine deaths just two days before Christmas.A Toyota Hilux bakkie belonging to the Government collided head-on with a Toyota 4×4 on the main road between Otjiwarongo and Otavi.Eight people died and eight more were rushed to the Otjiwarongo hospital.They were later transferred to Windhoek, where one of the casualties succumbed to his injuries.The deceased have been identified as Alfeus Philipus (34), Sefanya Embula (47), Eliakim Timotheus (51), Jonathan Niilenge (32), Ashipala Iipinge Ashipala (63), Taimi Embula (33), Uda Paulus (13), Michael Gotlieb (55) and Jason Paulus (37).Police have been working alongside the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) and International SOS to respond to accidents over the holiday period.The MVA fund yesterday said that its officials assisted the Police in exactly 40 road accidents between December 4 and 31 as part of its Quick Response programme, “However, we weren’t on every accident scene with the Police.There were many that the Police handled themselves,” Hileni David, Head of the MVA’s Accident Investigation Unit, told The Namibian yesterday.During the New Year’s weekend, seven people died in road accidents countrywide.Early on Friday morning, a young Windhoek resident and cricket player, Marc Olivier, died on the notoriously dangerous road between Okahandja and Karibib.Olivier had been on his way to the coast, when a Toyota Condor apparently slammed into his Hyundai from behind.Olivier’s vehicle overturned, and he died on the scene.Police yesterday were still trying to trace the driver of the Condor.Outside Windhoek, five Indian citizens died near Brakwater on New Year’s Eve, while en route to Walvis Bay.Their car apparently collided with a double-cab bakkie.Police have reported that 17 people were travelling in the bakkie.The passengers in the bakkie sustained various degrees of injury, ranging from light to serious, while only one occupant in the sedan, a five-year-old girl, survived.The deceased have been identified as Sharat Diwakar (39), Namita Diwakar (29), Amitava Saha (45), Namita Saha (39) and Ayonika Saha (6).They were members of two families who were on holiday together.The girl who survived the accident, Niharika Diwakar (5), is currently being held in the Intensive Care Unit of the Windhoek Central hospital.Her condition remains critical.Other fatal accidents include one that happened approximately 25 km from Otjiwarongo and resulted in nine deaths just two days before Christmas.A Toyota Hilux bakkie belonging to the Government collided head-on with a Toyota 4×4 on the main road between Otjiwarongo and Otavi.Eight people died and eight more were rushed to the Otjiwarongo hospital.They were later transferred to Windhoek, where one of the casualties succumbed to his injuries.The deceased have been identified as Alfeus Philipus (34), Sefanya Embula (47), Eliakim Timotheus (51), Jonathan Niilenge (32), Ashipala Iipinge Ashipala (63), Taimi Embula (33), Uda Paulus (13), Michael Gotlieb (55) and Jason Paulus (37).Police have been working alongside the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) and International SOS to respond to accidents over the holiday period.The MVA fund yesterday said that its officials assisted the Police in exactly 40 road accidents between December 4 and 31 as part of its Quick Response programme, “However, we weren’t on every accident scene with the Police.There were many that the Police handled themselves,” Hileni David, Head of the MVA’s Accident Investigation Unit, told The Namibian yesterday.