Heribert Bechen/Flickr
The accident occurred in the Kuiseb Valley, Namibia
Two Portuguese tourists died this Wednesday in an accident between two buses in the Namib desert, the counselor for Portuguese communities in the country’s capital, Windhoek, confirmed to Lusa.
The accident, which involved two buses carrying 40 tourists, caused injuries to 16 national citizens, according to the Secretary of State for Communities.
In one of the buses there were at least 22 Portuguese tourists. According to the press, the bus will have crashed into a minibushaving then overturned and collided with an open-top jeep.
The group of Portuguese tourists, from the north of the country, traveled through a travel agency in Leça da Palmeira.
In a situation report made to Lusa early this morning, José CesárioSecretary of State for Portuguese Communities, said that, in addition to the two dead Portuguese women, “there were registered 16 people with various types of injuriessix of which require some caution, but are not life-threatening.”
The injured were transported to the local hospital and their families are being contacted by the Portuguese Embassy in Windhoek, he said this Wednesday.
Four Portuguese have already been discharged and “there are still ten cases with minor injuries, which we hope can be discharged quickly”, added the official.
José Cesário also said that “there will be a third person who will have diedbut does not have Portuguese nationality”.
The Secretary of State had previously told Lusa that there were people of various nationalities involved in the accident and that the group of Portuguese tourists, from the North of the country, traveled through a travel agency.
According to the counselor of the Portuguese communities in Windhoek, Manuel Coelhothe accident occurred between 3pm and 4pm local time, minus one hour in Portugal, in the Kuiseb Valley, on the way to the largest Sossusvley sand dunes in the Namib Desert.
”I confirm that there was an accident between two buses and apparently a third vehicle in a place where there is no internet networkthe information is precarious”, the Portuguese advisor told Lusa.
“We know that a bus was carrying 22 Portuguese citizens, two of whom died on the spot, We also know that a third person died on the way to the hospital in Walvis Bay, the nearest city, but at this moment we do not know the nationality of the latter”.
In a statement, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousapresented “Condolences, in this time of mourning”, to the families of the fatal victims, and said he was monitoring the situation of the Portuguese people involved in the accident.
The head of state also said that he hopes for the “quick recovery” of the Portuguese injured in the accident.
