PORT ELIZABETH - AMBULANCE EMS CREW MALICIOUSLY ROBBED AFTER THIEVES BLOCKADE CHATTY DIP INTERSECTION

The Eastern Cape Health Department is appealing to the community of Nelson Mandela Bay to work with authorities to fight crime.

The appeal on Monday came after another attack on ambulance personnel who were transporting a patient with asthma to hospital in the early hours of the morning.

Health Department spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said that the EMS crew was accosted at the intersection at the Chatty Dip and Uitenhage Road by assailants who placed a barricade in the road.

He said three men emerged from the shadows and smashed the driver’s side window of the ambulance, injuring the driver.

Kupelo said the second crew member and the patient were robbed of their personal belongings and were left traumatised by the incident.

"We are really calling upon the people of the Bay to stand up and fight this thing, work with police, work with all the structures on the ground that are fighting crime," he said.

"An assault on a health official, particularly those who are providing essential services, is an assault on the community," Kupelo added.

He said police are investigating the incident.

via - ALGOAFM