Ambulance stripped
Police have launched a manhunt for a group of criminals after medical personnel were held hostage and their ambulance stripped.
It is understood paramedics received a call about a woman giving birth at a farm on the Spitzkop Road near Belfast in Mpumalanga, when they were attacked.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the medics were not aware that the “woman giving birth scenario” was orchestrated to rob the ambulance. “As the ambulance arrived at the place mentioned by the caller, two males wearing balaclavas, which covered their faces, are said to have then emerged,” he said.
“The suspects allegedly held them hostage and took their cellphones before they tied them up with cable ties but kept [them] inside the ambulance.”
The ambulance was reportedly then driven to another location, where five more suspects were waiting. “The vehicle was stripped of its gearbox, engine, two tyres, as well as the battery,” said Mohlala.
He added that the estimated value of the vehicle parts was about R300 000.
“These motor parts were then loaded into another vehicle and, surprisingly, the suspects gave the EMS personnel their cellphones that were taken earlier before they left the scene,” he said.
A case of robbery is being investigated.
The Mpumalanga provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, has condemned the incident.
“As law enforcement officers, we will not allow a situation like this, whereby emergency workers will be hindered to carry out their duties by criminals.
“We will do all in our powers to bring them to book and they cannot escape the arm of the law.”
The Belfast police have urged the public to assist with any information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects.
Paramedics received a call about woman giving birth at a farm near Belfast