Northern businesswoman buried after head-on crash

An Ondangwa-based businesswoman Martha Iimbili, who passed away in the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital three days after being seriously injured in a car accident, was laid to rest at the Onethika Community Cemetery on Saturday. Her funeral service was held in the Ontananga Lutheran parish. The fatal accident happened on the main road between Ondangwa and Oshikango on June 13, when a taxi that was apparently overtaking at high speed collided with Iimbili’s oncoming station wagon, killing the taxi driver instantly and seriously injuring both Iimbili and her sister Maria. The two were rushed to the Onandjokwe hospital, where the 59-year-old Iimbili passed away three days later. Relatives said her sister’s right arm was ripped off and she also suffered a broken left leg. Her condition is said to be critical, but stable. Iimbili was the owner of the Makakata Grave Stones, recently renamed Kakata Enterprises CC. She is survived by two brothers, two sisters and a 19-year-old son. Iimbili’s funeral service coincided with the burial of three others, forcing local pastors to hold two separate services simultaneously because of the large number of mourners. The service for Iimbili and two others, Victoria Ukongo and Kaarin Alukolo, were held in the Ontananga church, while the funeral service for Justina Shigwedha - the Onalulago Combined School allegedly killed by her husband and burnt beyond recognition - was held at her parents’ homestead a few kilometres away. After the church services the bodies were taken to different cemeteries in the Ontananga area for burial. ONTANANGA PLACIDO HILUKILWA