The little girl, Sadia Sukhraj, who was shot and killed during the botched hijacking. Picture: ANA
A truck driver whose vehicle was damaged during a foiled deadly hijacking in Shallcross, Durban claims the community beat one of the suspects to death, EWN reports.
Nine-year-old Sadia Sukhraj was shot in the stomach when three armed men stole her father’s car this morning.
The suspects fled with Sukhraj inside the stolen vehicle. There are conflicting reports about who shot the child and whether her father fired any bullets at the car as the hijackers tried to get away.
She later died in hospital.
Truck driver Petros Ngubane says after the hijackers crashed the vehicle into his lorry, they sped off but were forced to turn around upon realising the street is a cul-de-sac.
He says while trying to inspect the damage to his truck, the suspects tried to run him over with the stolen vehicle.
According to Ngubane, as he was running away, the suspects lost control of the car which came to a stop at a nearby park. Ngubane claims one of the suspects was beaten by the community.
“Nobody shot him. He was beaten to death by the community. He was beaten right in front of me.”
According to police, one of the men was arrested as he fled the scene by an off-duty police officer‚ another died near the vehicle and a third man remains at large.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that one of the hijackers was killed.
“The nature of his injuries is still unknown because the forensic team is still busy. A 39-year-old suspect was apprehended by an off-duty police official who witnessed the incident‚” she said.
– Citizen reporter
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