Hijackers try to burn man alive
He was locked in the boot and the car was set alight.
HIJACKED, stabbed and locked in the boot of his burning car, a terrified Port Shepstone man thought he would die a most horrible death.
One can only imagine the panic as the wounded man shouted and kicked. Obviously running on pure adrenaline, he managed to force open the boot just before the flames reached the petrol tank and the car exploded.
The man (38) was still highly traumatised and did not want to speak to the Herald this week. He also did not want to be named for fear of his hijackers coming back for him.
However, a family friend said that the man was hijacked in Marburg last Thursday.
“He is extremely lucky to be alive,” said his friend.
“He said he was on his way home and was confronted by two men at an intersection in Marburg. He had to stop or he would have knocked one of the men over. The second man demanded his keys and when he refused, he was stabbed in the neck.”
They then grabbed his keys and one of the men continued to stab him until the blade broke off in his chest.
He was forced into the back seat with one of the attackers while the other drove off at high speed.
Adding to the terror, his face was covered with his jacket. He couldn’t see where, but they stopped and picked up another two men and a woman.
“He was ordered out of the car and into the boot before before they drove off again at high speed.”
After a hair-raising ride, the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled.
The kidnappers then opened the boot and were about to stab him again until he pleaded desperately for them not to kill him. They then removed his clothes, slammed the boot closed again and set the car alight.
In spite of his wounds, he managed to kick the boot open after a while and clambered out.
Luckily his attackers had already fled.
“It was dark and he didn’t know where he was.” (It turned out to be near Izingolweni.)
He limped, bleeding profusely, towards a light he saw shining about 5kms away. It was a house and the shocked, but helpful occupants phoned the police and his family immediately.
He was rushed to hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Zandra Wiid said a thorough investigation was under way, but no arrests had been made yet.
