Durban residents and motorists woke up to a shooting spree and an explosion on the N2 freeway near the NPC cement factory this morning after robbers targeted a cash-in-transit vehicle.

According to Berea Mail, ALS Paramedics treated several gunshot victims, starting at the initial scene on the N2 and ending at Silverglen Drive near Chatsworth, where a woman died.

The incident began on the N2 freeway near NPC cement, where ALS Paramedics, Marshall Security, SAPS, and Metro Police responded.

ALS Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson says they received a call for assistance just after 06:00.

“We responded to a shooting on the N2 near the NPC Factory where a cash-in-transit vehicle was forced off the road and landed on its roof. It was then blown up and robbed. Three security officers were treated on the actual scene and stabilised before being transported to hospitals,” he adds.

Paramedics then headed about 500m from NPC, where they treated three gunshot victims on a bus. They were stabilised and transported to hospital for further care.

“The next location of the scene was on the Higginson Highway, where two people sustained gunshot wounds. Paramedics then proceeded to Silverglen Drive in Chatsworth, where multiple people had sustained gunshot wounds. One person, a woman in her 30s, died at the scene. The other patients at both locations were stabilised and taken to various hospitals,” says Jamieson.

The road between Higginson Highway and the M7 has been closed, and motorists are advised to avoid the area.

Southlands Sun reports that at the time of publication, the N2 was closed in both directions between Edwin Swales Drive and Higginson Highway. Motorists travelling between Durban and Isipingo or the South Coast are urged to use the M4 until further notice.