Source: Highwaymen rob Zim passengers along SA highway: report | News24
At least three buses carrying Zimbabwean passengers were robbed at gunpoint along the Musina Johannesburg highway at the weekend, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
One Intercity bus was boarded by four armed men after they shot the tyres early on Sunday morning.
Cash and cellphones stolen
“They took someone’s bag and ordered us to throw our cash inside. It was very scary as they moved down the row of seats and we meekly deposited our cash into the bag,” an unnamed passenger told the state-run Chronicle.
The passengers were also ordered to hand over their cellphones and tablets. A passenger who concealed a 10-rand note from the robbers was slightly injured after one of the enraged men fired a shot that grazed his ear.
Intercity Bus Company confirmed the incident, the Chronicle said.
Boarded bus in Bulawayo
Two other coaches and several smaller vehicles were also reportedly targeted on Saturday night.
The Chronicle said robbers who had boarded another South African-bound coach in Bulawayo produced weapons allegedly supplied to them by accomplices they met in Musina. After the heist they were whisked away by colleagues in a getaway car.
Shoppers targeted
It’s thought robbers target Zimbabwean cross-border traders on their way to buy goods in South Africa.
Two years ago a robber was shot dead after his weapon discharged as he wrestled with a Zimbabwean passenger who refused to hand over cash during a robbery aboard a Mzansi bus that had stopped at a fuel station in Musina.
COMMENTS