A Belgian man was killed in a road accident in Namibia after the tourist bus he was on collided with a truck at the weekend, in an accident in which a Belgian woman was also seriously injured.
The foreign affairs ministry confirmed that the man, identified as a 32-year-old Belgian banker, died instantly in the crash, which took place on Sunday in the remote village of Katjinakatji, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
The bus was transporting at least 20 tourists who had been on vacation in Namibia for a few weeks, and they were thought to be heading to the Mangetti National Park when the accident took place at around 8:00 PM.
At least six other people of unconfirmed nationalities were injured in the crash, involving a bus operated by a Belgian travel company and a truck which was heading in the opposite direction, transporting a load of wood.
For reasons which remain unclear, the truck driver lost control of the vehicle, which landed on its side, resulting in its load of wood to scatter across the road, which the tourist bus failed to avoid.
Emergency services, which took over an hour to arrive at the scene of the crash, freed a Belgian woman who became trapped inside the vehicle and who was seriously injured in the accident.
The extent of her injuries mean that she cannot be repatriated to Belgium for the time being, and on Monday she was relocated to a better-equipped hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, HLN reports.
A spokesperson with the foreign affairs ministry said that the government was in contact with the victims of the deceased Belgian, and that they had reached out to the travel agency in order to offer the victims consular assistance.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
