GRAPHIC CONTENT: Shebeen brawl turns bloody on Kirkland Street

An altercation between two groups at a shebeen in the CBD on Monday night spilled onto Kirkland Street, leaving a bloody trail of destruction.

According to reports, two men and a pregnant woman were at the shebeen with a number of other patrons.

Allegedly, another man groped the woman and an argument ensued. It is believed the woman’s husband struck the groper with a bottle.

The man who was hit called his friends and began to chase the husband and his friends, who were by then fleeing down Kirkland Street.

Six men chased them to a garage on Kirkland Street, where the fight broke out anew.  According to witnesses, the assailants hit two men with bottles and stabbed one of them with a knife.

Three of the fleeing victims barred themselves inside the bulletproof glass cashier’s office of the garage. The group of attackers continued to damage the doors and property of the shop.

They also threw bricks at the building, smashing a glass door. The walls and floor of the store was covered in pools and flecks of blood, as the bleeding assailants tried to gain access to the victims.

A bloody mess 

ER24 Newcastle transported the woman and her husband to hospital. The woman sustained only minor bruising to her arms while her husband sustained a cut to his face from a bottle. One of their friends was transported to hospital by Mercy Care, and sustained a very deep laceration to his right arm, apparently a knife wound.

Fast response from the Newcastle SAPS ensured the capture of two of the assailants, while a third was treated on scene for a severe head wound, also from a broken bottle.

The victims are allegedly street vendors from Durban, who spent the day selling their merchandise in Newcastle. They were ‘having a quick drink’ before getting a taxi back home.

A case of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, armed robbery and malicious damage to property has been opened.

Police investigations continue.

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