AN AMBULANCE transporting patients to hospital was hijacked in KwaMakhutha on Sunday, 26 October.
At the time of the incident, a KZN Department of Health Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance, along with two crew members had been transporting two patients from KwaMakhutha Clinic to hospital.
While en-route, the ambulance was allegedly flagged down by two men under the pretext that one of them was a patient and needed attention. The driver allegedly stopped the vehicle and alighted. But as he approached them, it is alleged they held him up at gunpoint and forced the crew members to get into the back of the vehicle. In the ensuing commotion, one of the crew members fled the scene in fear of his life and jumped over a nearby perimeter fence, where he hid for some time. The assailants allegedly drove the ambulance towards KwaMakhutha before abandoning it and fleeing. They are still at large.
Fortunately, neither the patients nor the crew members sustained injuries.
The Department of Health views the incident in a serious light and believes that society can ill-afford to allow unscrupulous criminal elements to interfere in its crucial life-saving service. The department appeals to the community, including the criminals’s relatives, to come forward and to help the police bring them to book.
