Staff Reporter
A DAY of fun at the home of a well-known medical practitioner from Oshakati on Saturday ended in tragedy when the 39-year-old Samuel Iipinge died after diving into the shallow end of the swimming pool and hitting his head on the bottom.
A representative of the Namibian Police’s Community Affairs Division in the Oshana Region, Warrant Officer Frieda Shikole confirmed the unfortunate death at the doctor’s house in the Evululuko residential area of Oshakati and said that the incident was only reported to the Namibian Police on Monday.
Video footage from security cameras at the doctor’s house shows the deceased person diving into the pool and staying under the surface for quite some time. It also shows his friends walking to the side of the pool to ascertain if he would resurface or not.
It is not clear if the medical doctor was at home at the time of the tragedy. It is also not clear why the incident was only reported to the police two days after the fact.
According to Shikole, it is believed that Iipinge drowned after getting knocked unconscious by hitting his head at the bottom of the pool.
“Some time elapsed before Iipinge was removed from the pool and rushed to the Oshakati State Hospital by some of his friends,” she said.
Shikole noted that the person that reported the incident to the Namibian Police on Monday told investigating officers that the incident occurred on Saturday at about 19:50. She added that Iipinge was declared dead upon his arrival at the hospital.
The time stamp on the video from the closed-circuit television cameras at the doctor’s house shows that almost half an hour elapsed between the incident in the pool and Iipinge being declared dead at the hospital.
According to Warrant Officer Shikole, no foul play is suspected at this stage of the investigation.
She added that a post mortem examination will be performed on the deceased person to determine the actual cause of his death.
Before his death, Iipinge was a resident of the Oneshila Location near Ombuga- Yamunyoko in Oshakati.
