A truck load of Snowflake wheat flour was looted in Parkgate, Verulam on Friday. The driver had taken a wrong turn and ended up surrounded by a mob who broke into the cargo bed and stole the 10kg bags of flour.
Prem Balram, spokesperson for security company, Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), said the incident, which happened on November 3, happened on an unnamed road in Parkgate, Verulam.
Members of Rusa and the Verulam SAPS were on the scene just before 1.30pm, with the Rusa operations centre having received a call for assistance after hundreds of residents surrounded the truck and began stealing bags of flour.
The driver from Johannesburg, said he had taken a wrong turn which ended in a cul-de-sac and residents saw this as an opportunity to loot.
“Members of the community, which included elderly women and children as young as five years old, were seen fleeing with the stolen goods,” said Mr Balram.
“Several vehicles loaded with bags of wheat flour sped off on arrival of first responders. They were pursued and intercepted. Several hundred bags were recovered.
“’A Pakistani national was injured when he fell into a ravine while fleeing approaching Rusa officers on foot. Twenty-three bags of wheat flour were recovered in his abandoned vehicle. The police and Rusa officer stabilised the scene and safely escorted the truck out of the area,” said Mr Balram.
