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Johannesburg - Two paramedics and a patient were forced to flee on foot after they were robbed at gunpoint in Hurst Hill, Johannesburg on Friday morning.
The team had responded to a call at around 04:00 and were attacked as they attended to a patient, said EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.
"While the crews were busy treating the patient in... the ambulance, five armed man came from nowhere, pointed the firearm at the driver and demanded his wallet. He handed the wallet to them and managed to run for his life," said Mulaudzi.
His partner at the back of the ambulance heard the commotion, grabbed the patient and both of them ran down the main road where the flagged down a taxi.
The taxi driver took them to the nearest police station.
The police went back to the scene and recovered the ambulance. They found that the only other thing taken from the vehicle was a two-way radio.
The paramedics were receiving counselling.
Mulaudzi said he could not disclose what the patient the paramedics were attending to was suffering from.
The latest incident comes just two weeks after another group of paramedics was robbed at gunpoint in Yeoville as they attended to a patient.
"We have seen an escalation in the number of incidents were paramedics are robbed while rendering essential service to the citizens of the city of Johannesburg," said Mulaudzi.
He condemned the attacks.
