3 hurt in Jhb airport heist bid

2004-09-17 20:02

Johannesburg - A gang of armed men attacked security guards and police who were escorting "valuable cargo" to a KLM jumbo jet filled with passengers at Johannesburg International Airport, officials said on Friday.

Five men opened fire on the security detail as passengers already seated in the KLM Asia plane were waiting for take-off on Thursday night, said police spokesperson Eugene Opperman.

"The five armed men tried to steal the valuable cargo and fired shots at police officers who were escorting the cargo to the plane.

Two of the officers were seriously wounded and another police officer who ran to help his colleagues was also wounded," said Opperman.

"The robbers fled without taking anything," he added.

Opperman declined to divulge details on the "valuable cargo" but the Johannesburg-based The Star newspaper said it was a load of gold and diamonds.

Caused a two-hour shutdown

The Dutch airliner was en route to Amsterdam when the attempted robbery took place.

The three policemen are in stable conditions in hospital. Nobody else was hurt.

The Airports Company South Africa said the attempted heist caused a two-hour shutdown and several flights had to be delayed at Johannesburg.

"We are following up on certain leads and we hope to make arrests soon," Opperman said.

The last major robbery at Johannesburg International Airport was in December 2001 when armed men made off with $1.5m in cash, and more than $100 000 worth of diamonds and jewellery from the cargo depot, causing the airport to cancel its contract with its security company.

- AFP