Two KwaZulu-Natal ambulance men had a narrow escape on Wednesday night when their ambulance was hijacked by gunmen.
Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said driver Senzo Mkhumbuzi and colleague Paul Hlope were called out to Sonto Reserve in Mseleni to pick up a sick man at around 10pm.
”On arrival they found two men waiting to direct them to the patient,” Mdletshe said.
After the men got into the ambulance they drew pistols and held up Mkhumbuzi and Hlope.
”Both men’s hands were bound and they were locked in the back of the ambulance,” Mdletshe said.
The ambulance men were able to untie their hands and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
Health department spokesperson Lindiwe Khuzwayo said one man managed to return to the base.
”The other man spent the night in the bushes and at daylight he crawled back into the road to see if he was safe and then went back to the base,” she said.
Khuzwayo said both men would undergo trauma counselling.
All ambulances in the province are fitted with the Tracker anti-theft system after a spate of hijackings last year.
The ambulance which was stolen on Wednesday was a Toyota Landcruiser with registration plate KZN22462. – Sapa