Swakopmund man dies in shack fire

SWAKOPMUND , 15 APR – A 44-year-old man burned to death at Swakopmund when the shack in which he was caught fire in the early hours of Sunday.
A police incident report from Deputy Commissioner Erastus Iikuyu identified the victim as Peter Humphries.
His next of kin were informed.
Iikuyu said the man stayed alone in the shack behind a house in Mondesa, and was presumably sleeping when it caught fire.
The fire, Iikuyu said, spread to two other shacks in the neighbouring erf and destroyed them completely.
“Apart from the loss of property in the fire, no other persons were injured. The cause of the fire is under investigation,” said the commissioner.
In a separate incident, a 28-year-old man was arrested on Friday and charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl in the DRC informal settlement in Swakopmund.
The incident report said the girl’s mother brought the suspect to their house and gave him a place to sleep in the sitting area.
“He allegedly sneaked into the girls’ room, where two of them were sleeping, and had sex with one of them.”
The suspect is expected before the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
At Usakos, the police is searching for a 21-year-old man who escaped from lawful custody on Saturday.
He was identified as Natangwe Daniel.
“He escaped from a holding cell through a space in the burglar bars and disappeared,” said Iikuyu in the report.
The suspect was in custody for assault by threat.
Anyone with information leading to his re-arrest is requested to report it to the nearest police station.

NAMPA