DURBAN - Two SAPS officers and a murder suspect had to be rescued from an angry mob in Ndwendwe, KwaZulu-Natal, on Tuesday.
The dramatic standoff began shortly after police arrested a suspect wanted for the murder of a 22-year-old man, following a two-hour search.
According to private security company Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), the suspect was initially handed over without incident. However, a large crowd quickly gathered, blockaded the property’s exit with concrete blocks and steel drums, and demanded that the suspect be released into their custody.
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"Several individuals openly threatened to attack the policemen if they attempted to remove the accused from the area," RUSA said in a statement.
The situation escalated rapidly once the suspect was loaded into a police vehicle. The hostile crowd, some armed with weapons, pelted the SAPS vehicle with stones and threatened to set it alight.
The officers and the suspect remained trapped inside the barricaded area for about an hour.
A security helicopter and ground personnel were deployed to the scene to assist. RUSA and reinforcing police units eventually cleared the obstacles blocking the roadway, creating an escape route to safely extract the officers and the suspect.