Children held at gunpoint during house robbery
Family and friends gathered for card game night were allegedly held at gunpoint by three robbers in an Arboterum flat, in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday.
The robbers arrived at about 10pm, tied up six adults, then put dirty cloths in their mouths before going upstairs and doing the same to children, threatening to shoot them if they made a sound, Zululand Observer reported.
According to a family member of one of the victims, one robber hit a 10-year-old child on his head with the butt of his firearm and told him they were all going to die that night.
Within five minutes, the robbers allegedly left with cellphones, cash and electronic goods. They reportedly escaped through the greenbelt behind the flat.
None of the victims sustained serious injuries.
Police arrived at the scene within minutes, and a case of housebreaking has been opened at the Richards Bay Police Station.
In a separate incident, three armed suspects in balaclavas stormed a house party in Linden, Johannesburg, last month.
The homeowner, Hans Somsen, said he and his wife Riana had friends over to celebrate the recent sale of Somsen’s garden centre business on Witkoppen Road and to spend some quality time together before the Somsen family sold their house before moving back to the Netherlands.
Once inside the house, the gunmen ordered all the children to lie on the ground while they demanded from the guests any small personal items of value, like cellphones, jewellery and watches. Riana Somsen managed to push the panic button.
Somsen said footage showed the gunmen exiting the property, the getaway vehicle pulling up and the suspects jumping in and speeding off. The entire incident took no longer than three minutes.
– Caxton News Service
Read original story on zululandobserver.co.za
