Five hijackings in Bay reported in single day

Five hijackings were reported in Nelson Mandela Bay on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said the first incident had happened at 9.30am when three robbers forced a Ford Bantam bakkie to stop in Ngoyi Street, Kwazakhele.

“Three suspects then jumped out of the car and fired a shot into the air,” he said.

“The driver of the Bantam was then pulled out and left on the side of the road while the robbers took his bakkie.”

The bakkie was found in Connacher Street, New Brighton, at about midday.

At noon, a hardware store bakkie was hijacked in Mbane Street, Zwide, and a bread truck was hijacked in Durban Road.

Both vehicles were recovered within an hour.

Also in the Durban Road area, a 35-year-old man was shot in the arm during an attempted hijacking after the suspects robbed a grocery store.

At about 6.30pm, three men ambushed the driver of an Isuzu bakkie in New Brighton.

The driver and his two passengers were robbed of cellphones and other valuables at gunpoint before the suspects sped off in the bakkie.

The bakkie was found in Deal Party at about 7pm.

On Monday morning, a DSV logistics courier truck was hijacked while staff were offloading pharmaceuticals at a pharmacy in Central.