The Brazilian tourist who was charged with culpable homicide and negligent driving following an accident in which nine people died on the B1 road outside Otavi, was on Thursday released on bail by the Otavi Magistrate’s Court.
The 59-year-old Luiz Charles Araujo De Sa appeared before Magistrate Ounjandere Ndjiharine, who set bail at N.dollars 150 000, and conditions that Araujo De Sa remains in Namibia until his case is finalised.
The magistrate also ruled in the bail conditions that Araujo De Sa should surrender his passport, but should he need to go abroad on medical grounds, he has to provide details of his appointment to the Namibian Police Force (NamPol) before travelling.
Araujo De Sa sustained back injuries in the accident, which occurred approximately 20 kilometres south of Otavi on 18 June 2024.
It is alleged that the Toyota Fortuner he was driving, headed from the direction of Otjiwarongo towards Otavi, overtook another vehicle and collided with a seven-seater vehicle.
Araujo De Sa is expected
to return to the Otavi Magistrate’s Court on 25 July 2024.
A privately hired lawyer, Florian Beukes of Metcalfe and Beukes Attorneys, represented him in court, while Public Prosecutor Eliana Doeses appeared for the State.
The nine people who died in the head-on collision between the seven-seater and the Fortuner were identified as Eduardo Vicunga Tyimbsndi, 63; Sofia Kakehere Likuva, 83; Festus Ndakolo, 29; Nelson Domingo Linyunga, 28; Reagan Mwalimu Kwala, 40; Titus Limanga Johannes, 41; Anna Rangaman, 13; and two-year-old Hendrick Mazambo Gab; as well as the 55-year-old Natale Ferreira Gontijo De Amorim, a Brazilian national who was in Namibia as a tourist.
Araujo De Sa and a three-year-old baby girl were the only survivors of the collision.
Police investigations continue.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency