Head-on crash between police van and prison bus kills 14 in Namibia

A head-on collision in Namibia involving vehicles belonging to the security services killed 14 people, including 11 members of the prison service, a police officer and two civilians.

The accident took place 270km (167 miles) south of the capital, Windhoek, outside the town of Mariental on Saturday.

“No words can truly capture the depth of this loss,” President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah wrote on social media, praising “the souls of our fallen officers”.

Namibia has one of the highest road traffic fatality rates in the world.

Home Affairs Minister Lucia Iipumbu also passed on her condolences and thanked those who attended the scene of the accident and the medical teams at Mariental State Hospital.

She asked that photos from the scene not be shared.

“The ministry further strongly appeals to members of the public to refrain from circulating distressing and sensitive images and videos taken from the accident scene, out of respect for the deceased, the injured and their families,” she is quoted by the Namibian newspaper as saying.

She explained that 19 people in total were travelling in the two vehicles.

The police van was carrying six passengers – five officers and a civilian – and the Namibian Correctional Service had 13 people on board.

President Nandi-Ndaitwah said three other prison officers remained critically injured.

“We wish them strength and a full recovery,” she said.

Namibia’s Motor Vehicle Accident Fund urged families affected to get in contact.

The government-sponsored vehicle insurance scheme, funded by a fuel levy, helps road injury victims to get access to health care, rehabilitation and social support.

Its CEO, Rosalia Martins-Hausiku, said the fund would assist with burials and medical care, talk radio station Eagle FM reported.

Road traffic crashes are a serious public health issue in Namibia, even though its population is relatively low – estimated at three million.

A comparison of the statistics from 2021 shows that Namibia had 22 road traffic fatalities per 100,000 compared to 2.3 per 100,000 in the UK that year.