Commuters in Johannesburg found themselves in the middle of a gun battle on Thursday morning after two trucks carrying cellphones were hijacked by a large group of armed robbers on the N1 highway‚ north of the city.

The trucks were being escorted by a security company when the hijacking occurred where the N1 North splits from the N3 Buccleuch interchange.

“A security officer jumped from one of the moving trucks to avoid being shot and sustained a compound fracture to his arm‚” Emer-G-Med spokesperson Max Cohen said.

A truck driver was shot in the head when a bullet ricocheted during the gun battle.

The hijackers fled with both trucks. “One truck has been found in Alexandra township‚” said Cohen. The other was still missing.

Both the driver and the security officer were taken to a nearby specialised trauma hospital in a stable condition.

The N1 North/N3 split was closed to traffic for police to assess the crime scene.