No headway in Bloem hostage drama
2012-11-19 23:07
Bloemfontein - Negotiators were still trying late on Monday night to convince two inmates at the Mangaung Correctional Centre to release a doctor taken hostage.
Brigadier Billy Jones said the two prisoners were still holding the doctor at 22:00.
"The negotiations are still ongoing," he said.
Earlier, during a ward round at the facility's hospital, a male doctor and a nurse were taken hostage, reportedly by two inmates armed with knives, but the nurse was later released unharmed.
The doctor's family have been notified but police are withholding his identity from the media and general public,
OFM News reported.
Police spokesperson Thabo Litabe told OFM one inmate is doing time for rape, and the other for robbery, theft and unlawful possession of fire arms.
The prisoners are demanding to be transferred to a prison in Gauteng.
The Mangaung facility is privately operated by G4S, a British multinational security services company, in partnership with the government.
The maximum security prison comprises six wings, with a hospital in the middle - where events unfolded before 11:00.
- SAPA
