A Malawian soldier was among three dead during the foreign members of special forces participating in Sadc War games drowned after the two boats they were using capsizedon Sunday.
“Three foreign members of the special forces participating in the SADC war games drowned after two boats they were using capsized during an early morning operation off the coast from Sandwich harbor,” states the paper.
The Namibian newspaper stated that the bodies of the Malawian soldier and South African soldiers were washed ashore off the coast from Sandwich harbour.
But the body of another South Africa soldier is still missing.
Drowning
The paper states that deceased could not be identified because of their nationality and the nature and circumstances of the incident. It is believed a special statement will be issued by the Namibian Ministry of Defence.
“According to available information, the incident happened between 03h00 and 04h00 yesterday [Sunday] morning during an offshore operation involving four boats and a total of 32 soldiers. Two of the boats capsized due to rough seas. About 16 soldiers were affected by the accident,” states the paper.
However, besides the three, the other members of the team managed to swim to the shore.
The tragedy struck only days before the exercise comes to a close Tuesday.
This is the first Sadc special forces multi-national war simulation exercise, code-named “Exercise Welwitschia”, held in Namibia.
It started last month drawing more than 700 soldiers from eight Sadc nations participated in a variety of maneuvres around Walvis Bay and along the coast. Namibia was chosen to host the exercise because of its desert environment, believed to offer unique exercise conditions for the special forces.
Erongo’s regional crime investigation co-ordinator, deputy commissioner Ottilie Kashuupulwa confirmed the accident and said that the Namibian police would be part of the investigation into the circumstances leading to the tragedy.
