Sixteen people were killed in a road accident involving two vehicles belonging to Namibian security forces on the southern highway near the town of Mariental, about 270 kilometers from the capital Windhoek.
Official sources confirmed that the victims included 14 security officers and two civilians, while two additional officers succumbed to their injuries after being taken to hospital.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah paid tribute to the victims on social media, saying that “words cannot express the depth of this loss,” and honoring “the officers who fell in the line of duty.”
Interior Minister Lucia Iipumbu expressed gratitude to the rescue teams and medical staff at Mariental State Hospital, while urging the public to refrain from sharing images of the crash site.
Namibia records one of the highest road fatality rates in the world, according to official statistics.
