Port Elizabeth police are on the hunt for a taxi driver and his assistant after an alleged robbery that led to the death of a 21-year-old woman on Wednesday.
This also led to a traffic accident that caused a truck to jack-knife after colliding with a bakkie on the M4 freeway.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu the robbery occurred in a taxi on Wednesday afternoon shortly after two women, aged 21 and 24, boarded in Cape Road.
“It is alleged that the women were the only two passengers on the taxi when they realised the driver had taken them on an unfamiliar route. He joined the M4 freeway from Mount Road, and when the women questioned him about the route the driver and his conductor [guardjie] robbed them of their personal belongings,” Naidu said.
The suspected robbers took their handbags, money and cell phones, among other belongings.
Allegedly the 21-year-old woman was very distraught and jumped into the backseat of the taxi.
In the process she accidentally opened the back window and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
She hit the road surface and died on impact.
As the woman’s body was still lying on the M4, the driver of a bakkie noticed the body and slammed his brakes. A large truck hit him from behind and jack-knifed on the freeway.
No injuries were reported from the accident.
Meanwhile the taxi dropped the 24-year-old woman off near New Brighton.
Members of the public assisted the woman to reach the police and report the incident.
Naidu said the police are investigating a case of robbery pertaining to the events in the taxi, while an inquest docket was opened in connection with the 21-year-old woman’s death.
Her name has been withheld until she has been formally identified and her family notified of her death.
Anyone with information that could assist in tracking down the taxi, its driver or the conductor should contact the Mount Road police station on 041 394 6316 or Detective Sergeant Gavin Scheepers on 073 930 9272. Alternatively they can contact their nearest police station.
HeraldLIVE
Search for taxi driver, assistant after woman dies during alleged robbery
Image: 123RF/Paul Fleet
Port Elizabeth police are on the hunt for a taxi driver and his assistant after an alleged robbery that led to the death of a 21-year-old woman on Wednesday.
This also led to a traffic accident that caused a truck to jack-knife after colliding with a bakkie on the M4 freeway.
According to police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu the robbery occurred in a taxi on Wednesday afternoon shortly after two women, aged 21 and 24, boarded in Cape Road.
“It is alleged that the women were the only two passengers on the taxi when they realised the driver had taken them on an unfamiliar route. He joined the M4 freeway from Mount Road, and when the women questioned him about the route the driver and his conductor [guardjie] robbed them of their personal belongings,” Naidu said.
The suspected robbers took their handbags, money and cell phones, among other belongings.
Allegedly the 21-year-old woman was very distraught and jumped into the backseat of the taxi.
In the process she accidentally opened the back window and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
She hit the road surface and died on impact.
As the woman’s body was still lying on the M4, the driver of a bakkie noticed the body and slammed his brakes. A large truck hit him from behind and jack-knifed on the freeway.
No injuries were reported from the accident.
Meanwhile the taxi dropped the 24-year-old woman off near New Brighton.
Members of the public assisted the woman to reach the police and report the incident.
Naidu said the police are investigating a case of robbery pertaining to the events in the taxi, while an inquest docket was opened in connection with the 21-year-old woman’s death.
Her name has been withheld until she has been formally identified and her family notified of her death.
Anyone with information that could assist in tracking down the taxi, its driver or the conductor should contact the Mount Road police station on 041 394 6316 or Detective Sergeant Gavin Scheepers on 073 930 9272. Alternatively they can contact their nearest police station.
HeraldLIVE
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