[imagesource:Midlands EMS/ Facebook]
This crime scene feels like it would only happen in South Africa.
On Monday, an EMS crew in Kwa-Zulu Natal was dispatched to help two people at an accident scene, only for their ambulance vehicle to be hijacked and completely ruined.
Midlands EMS posted about the situation on Facebook, noting that a crew was sent to the N3 Lions River near Pietermaritzburg for a motor vehicle collision.
On arrival, the crew members noticed that one vehicle was next to the fast lane on the N3 with debris just before the car accident. They then assessed the two occupants, who were found to have no injuries. This is what happened next according to Midlands EMS spokesperson Roland Robertson via East Coast Radio:
“The ambulance crews went to remove the debris out of the road to keep other motorists safe.
“Whilst returning back to the vehicle, they noticed that the ambulance was driving off already, and when they got back to the scene, they asked the other crews that were going too, and they mentioned that the driver from the vehicle that was involved in the accident held them at gunpoint and took the ambulance.”
Some of the crew members had confronted the patient about stealing the ambulance and were faced with a firearm being pointed at them. The suspect then apparently sped off Northbound towards Nottingham Road, colliding with multiple vehicles on his spree to evade capture.
The chase finally came to an end when the suspect crashed the ambulance and came to a stop about two kilometres past the Estcourt Ultra City. He was immediately arrested on the scene by RTI members from Estcourt who subsequently handed him over to SAPS along with a firearm and ammunition.
He has been detained at Estcourt SAPS and investigations will continue. The EMS crews were unharmed but left rather shaken.
The sad news is that the EMS Ambulance will, unfortunately, be put on pension, which is a great loss as it was one of a few ICU Ambulances in KwaZulu-Natal.
[source:ecr]
