Body of pupil who drowned at Lake Guinas retrieved

The body of the pupil who drowned at Lake Guinas near Tsumeb during a school trip has finally been retrieved.

Police inspector general Joseph Shikongo confirmed this on Tuesday.

O’linn Nauyoma (16) from Etosha Secondary School drowned last September while on a learners’ representative council training trip.

“Yes, there were a lot of attempts made by Namibian Police to recover the body, but due to the nature of the lake they were not able to.

“I think further steps were taken to get some more experts to see if they can recover the body. I can confirm to you that yes, today there was a breakthrough of recovering a body, which, of course, is in a decomposed state,” Shikongo said.

It was received by members of the police and the involved divers, after which it was taken to the police mortuary, he said.

“Before handing it over, we wanted to be sure it is the body of the younger boy,” he said.

The lake is said to be linked to Lake Otjikoto, with a width of 59m, and a length of 120m.

The centre of the lake has a depth of more than 130m, depending on the water level.

“So, we are now conducting a forensic investigation before he is handed over. It was actually members of the police sea divers who retrieved the body with the regional command of Oshikoto,” Shikongo said.