Man suffers burn wounds after bread truck set on fire in Cape Town

A truck assistant suffered burn wounds to his face and hands after a bread truck was allegedly set alight near Strand on Saturday.

City of Cape Town fire services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said a team of 12 firefighters responded in two fire engines and a rescue vehicle at 13:30 to the burning truck on the corners of the N2 and Onverwacht street in Lwandle.

While extinguishing the blaze, they treated the man for his burn wounds.

“The fire was extinguished at 14:15 and the patient was transported to a nearby hospital by a Metro ambulance,” Carelse said.

“The scene was handed over to the SAPS for further investigation.”

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed the incident.

Van Wyk said a bread truck was standing at a red robot when three unknown men forced the driver to get out. They allegedly set the truck alight. No petrol bomb was thrown and nothing was taken.

“No injuries were reported. A malicious damage to property case was registered for investigation,” he said.

Cape Town trucks targeted

On Wednesday, a truck driver broke his collarbone after fleeing from a truck that was petrol-bombed.

A video shows two truck drivers sitting inside a stationary truck, when the petrol bomb is thrown. Both men fled from the truck which was at a red light on Broadlands Road in Somerset West.

Western Cape trucks have increasingly become the targets of suspected criminal activity this year.

In June, an articulated truck was set alight on the N2, also in Somerset West, with some of the highway being closed, City of Cape Town traffic officials confirmed at the time.

Also in June, Bernard Groenewald died of his injuries after being petrol bombed on the N1, near Touws River.

And in May, Christopher Kgomo was killed on the N1 near De Doorns in the Western Cape when a boulder was thrown through his window.

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