Walvis Bay’s emergency agencies literally had their hands full on Monday night when two vehicle accidents in Kuisebmond and a raging fire required their urgent attention at the same time.

One of the accidents proved fatal when a man was knocked over by a vehicle and killed in the vicinity of Shop4Value in Kuisebmond. The fire, only a stone’s throw from the accident scene, highlighted the ongoing problem of residents who use their shops as living quarters, despite the risk of causing fires in the process of preparing food or using heaters for warmth.In the first incident at around 19h30, two vehicles collided on the Kuisebmond Bridge in Sam Nujoma Avenue, requiring the fire brigade to use hydraulic “jaws of life” equipment to free one of the passengers pinned down in the wreckage.

Medical emergency personnel attending to the injured at the accident scene were soon alerted to a second traffic accident; a man was knocked over by a vehicle in Kuisebmond’s Nathaniel Maxuililli Avenue. Sadly the pedestrian was killed in the accident. At the time of going to press the deceased’s name was not yet released by the Namibian Police. At the same time as these two accidents were in full swing, the fire brigade again had to scramble, this time to a Chinese shop in Kuisebmond where a pot of food left unattended caught fire. All indications are that the shop owners were also using their business premises as a home, an ongoing problem for Walvis Bay’s health inspectorate and emergency services. The merchandise sold at these shops is often highly combustible, making it extremely risky to also use stoves with open gas flames in such confined spaces.