Eleven members from the Namibia Correctional Service, a police officer and two civilians were killed Saturday in a road accident in the south-central region.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said the tragedy occurred in a head-on collision on the B1 highway near Mariental, 268 kilometres from the nation’s capital of Windhoek.

"My heart goes out to the families who have lost their loved ones and to the men and women of the Namibia Correctional Service and the Namibian Police Force who are mourning their colleagues. “No words can truly capture the depth of this loss," Nandi-Ndaitwah said in a statement.

The accident involved a police van, which was carrying six passengers, five of whom were officers and one civilian, and a Namibian correctional service van, which had 13 occupants on board.

Three of the victims were critically injured and are receiving treatment at a hospital.