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Robbers vanish in hostage drama
10/12/2007 23:07 - (SA)
Andre Botha
Kathu - A robbery drama in which about 30 people were held hostage for nearly three hours, has shaken this peaceful mining town in the Kalahari to its foundations.
After the release of the hostages, all employees at Shoprite, which the robbers attacked at about 06:30, the drama continued while heavily armed police searched the Kathu Centre.
It was suspected the robbers were hiding in the roof of the centre.
It isn't clear how the robbers managed to slip through the police cordon surrounding the centre.
According to Inspector Yvonne Cilliers of Kathu police it was the first robbery of this magnitude in the town.
It took place a few hours after a burglary on Sunday night at the new Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet that opened in the town about three weeks ago.
Called cops across the road
Volksblad has heard that more than R40 000 was stolen in that burglary. Cilliers said the robbers apparently got in through the roof and broke open the safe.
Superintendent Hendrik Swart of Northern Cape police said about 30 hostages were released at about 10:00. No one had been injured.
The shaken employees were sent home by the store's management after making statements to the police. They also received counselling from the police chaplain.
The robbers presumably had been waiting for the employees. One of the staff managed to escape and went to call the police, who were just across the road.
A large number of onlookers crowded around the centre, which had been hastily evacuated after the robbers struck.
The centre was barricaded to ensure that no one entered. About 11:50, there was a commotion when it was suspected one of the robbers was hiding in a florist's shop at the side of the centre.
A cordon was thrown around the shop and armed police took up their positions on the roof of the centre next to the nursery.
Police rushed into the shop to discover there was nobody there.
Fled empty-handed
By about 13:00, police withdrew when they were certain the robbers were no longer in the centre. No one has yet been arrested, but Swart says the search for the robbers continues.
A charge of attempted armed robbery is being investigated.
As far as is known, the robbers left empty-handed.
Several shops in the centre were back in business by 14:00.
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