Four children trapped in freezer in Namibia die

In a heartbreaking incident in Namibia’s Zambezi Region, four young children have died after becoming trapped in an old freezer while playing. The children, ages three to six, were discovered inside the abandoned freezer in Katima Mulilo, a town known for its high population density, on Monday afternoon.

Preliminary investigations by local police suggest that the children were playing inside the unused deep freezer and accidentally became trapped. It is believed that they suffocated due to the lack of ventilation. The exact circumstances are still under investigation.

According to reports, two of the children died from suffocation inside the freezer, while the other two succumbed to their injuries at a nearby hospital. The public broadcaster NBC has detailed that paramedics arrived at the scene and quickly transported the two survivors to Katima Mulilo State Hospital, where they were declared dead upon arrival.

Aranges Shoro, one of the grieving fathers, recounted the tragic events to The Namibian newspaper. He described the scene when he arrived, seeing paramedics attending to his daughter and another child. The two children who were already deceased were taken away by police vehicles, while the others were rushed to the hospital.

Zambezi regional police commander Andreas Shilelo provided additional details to the AFP news agency. He explained that the freezer had a hook that could only be opened from the outside, which contributed to the children’s entrapment. The children were reportedly stuck in the freezer for about an hour and a half before succumbing to suffocation.

The situation is particularly distressing given that the freezer was non-functional and had been left outside one of the affected families’ homes. The reasons for its presence in that location remain unclear, raising questions about why such an unsafe item was left accessible to children.

The tragedy has cast a spotlight on the need for greater awareness about the dangers of leaving potentially hazardous items in places where children can easily access them. The community is in mourning, grappling with the loss of these young lives and the circumstances that led to this fatal accident.

Local authorities and community leaders are calling for measures to ensure that such incidents do not recur. The police continue to investigate the incident thoroughly to provide more clarity on how the children ended up in the freezer and to prevent future tragedies.

As the investigation unfolds, the focus remains on supporting the families affected by this unimaginable loss and addressing safety concerns to protect children from similar dangers.