WATCH: One dead and several injured in cash-in-transit robbery
One person was killed and nine others injured in an attempted cash-in-transit (CIT) heist in the Durban CBD on Tuesday morning.
It is alleged that the person, who died at the scene, was a shop owner who was shot in the head and the nine others who were injured were vendors selling items on the side of the road — who had been knocked by the fleeing cash-in-transit vehicle that had crashed into a taxi.
ALS Paramedics spokesman Garrith Jamieson said they received calls of a shoot-out and vehicle accident in Russell Street — near the Victoria Street/N3 off-ramp.
“There was absolute chaos when we arrived — there were injured people everywhere. During the attempted robbery, the cash-in-transit vehicle sped away but ploughed into a taxi before veering off the road and plunging into multiple vendors who sat on the pavement selling their goods,” said Mr Jamieson.
He said the cash-in-transit guards and taxi driver all sustained serious injuries and had to be treated by advanced life support paramedics at the scene before being transported to hospitals.
Witnesses at the scene said “it was like something out of the movies”.
“Traffic is always heavy in the area and vehicles were gridlocked. In between all of this was the cash-in-transit vehicle that was stuck in the middle. I’m not sure if the robbers surrounded the vehicle or what. The next thing we saw were the guys grabbing the guard. We heard lots of gunshots. Then we saw the cash-in-transit van drive off. A few minutes later, on the bridge, or near the bridge, we heard a loud sound and people screaming. We later found out that the people who sell things there on the road were all knocked by this CIT van. I didn’t think we were going to live today. Things are getting bad. These guys had such big guns and so many of them as well,” said the one person who was shopping in the area on Tuesday morning.
SAPS spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed the incident and police were investigating the matter.