Gang of 30 steals guns

2003-03-06 09:51

Phuthaditjhaba - Thirty armed men stormed a security company's depot in Phuthaditjhaba on Wednesday night and robbed the company of more than 34 weapons, Free State police said on Thursday.

However, seven R5 rifles, six shotguns, four automatic rifles and one .38 pistol were later recovered from a vehicle which was abandoned on a road between Harrismith and Warden.

Captain Veronica Ntepe said three security guards were changing shifts about 20:30 on Wednesday when the robbers ambushed them and took weapons stored at the depot.

They also took cellphones belonging to the guards but no money was taken, she said.

The gang abducted the wife and child of the company's owner and fled.

The woman and child were dumped at a village near Phuthaditjhaba. They were unharmed, Ntepe said.

Ntepe said the vehicle used by the robbers was suspected to have been stolen in Duduza on the East Rand in Gauteng in January this year.

- SAPA