Third health research facility vehicle gets hijacked in Mtuba
ANOTHER Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) vehicle was hijacked in Mtubatuba on Wednesday evening, bringing the total to three.
Police spokesperson
Captain Justice Hlabisa said three suspects, two of whom were armed with handguns, ambushed one of the occupants of the vehicle as they were closing the gate after having driven into the driveway.
Hlabisa said the incident occurred in the evening, and that, while there is CCTV footage, the suspects wore masks.
Fearing a 'possible crisis' considering this is the third vehicle from the institute to have been hijacked in Mtubatuba and surrounding areas since 16 February, Hlabisa said the police have met AHRI's management to discuss these incidents.
Hlabisa said it was learnt at the meeting that the institute's vehicles have trackers, which raised the suspicion that the hijackers may have been in possession of a device that locates or disables trackers.
Confirming the third hijacking incident, AHRI's chief advancement officer Munyadziwa Rabambi said, thankfully the staff member was physically unharmed.
"All of our vehicles have tracking devices installed.
All three matters are now the subject of police investigation and, as such, we cannot provide more detail.
"AHRI is fully aware of the trauma associated with such incidents and is providing all necessary support to our staff. The work that AHRI does is critical to the health and wellbeing of our communities and we are working closely with key local stakeholders to ensure such incidents do not disrupt it.
"We are obviously very distressed by these incidents as the safety of AHRI employees and our research participants is our priority. We are working closely with SAPS, and hope the police investigation is concluded soon.
"We again urge anyone with information that could help the investigation to contact the police," said Rabambi.
One vehicle was hijacked on 26 February in the KwaMsane area, while the other was hijacked on 15 February at Ndlovu Village (kwa-D).