A woman died and a man survived in a nine-hour hostage drama at George Mukhari hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, on Tuesday, police said.
The siege began when the two were held by a third man who had arrived at the hospital’s nurses’ residence at 6.30am, said police spokesperson Inspector Anton Breedt.
The man peacefully handed himself over to police at 3.25pm.
”The unidentified man entered the hospital premises at 6.30am and eyewitnesses said he fired several shots as he entered,” Breedt said.
He said a woman, whose age and name are still unknown, was shot dead before police arrived at 8am, and a man was taken hostage.
At about 1pm, an ambulance followed by a mortuary van left the scene with what was believed to be the body of the woman. Staff at the mortuary, which is about 300m from the residence, declined to comment on the identity of the body brought in.
”At this point, we cannot speculate about the relationship of the three to each other. That will form part of the investigation, which is being handled by the serious and violent crimes unit,” Breedt said.
When police arrived at the scene, three hostage negotiators and several members of a special task team surrounded the three-storey building and attempted to talk to the captor.
Task-team members at different times during the day tried to force their way into the building by using siege equipment.
People at the scene said the woman was a nurse, although this is yet to be confirmed.
A woman in a nurse’s uniform was heard wailing: ”My sister is in there!” in a parking lot near the residence, about an hour before the man handed himself over.
Her co-workers said she was the murdered woman’s friend and not a relative.
Breedt said the man will be charged with murder, attempted murder and related charges such as kidnapping and discharging a firearm in a public place.
His court appearance is yet to be arranged. — Sapa