Johannesburg - A high-speed police chase sparked by a housebreaking in Alberton resulted in five people killed and 11 others injured after the alleged robbers crashed into a taxi.
Police had received a tip-off that the suspects were driving along the N3.
When they realised police were in hot pursuit, the men fired at them, Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane said.
Worried about the safety of people driving on the freeway, police backtracked while the white Mercedes-Benz driven by the robbers sped off at 200km/h, she said.
That was when it crashed into a taxi travelling from Vosloorus to Joburg.
The driver lost control and the taxi overturned.
The Mercedes came to rest a few metres away.
An R4 firearm lay nearby and there was traces of blood on the passenger seat, which indicated that one of the two suspects could have been shot during the chase.
But none of them were around - they had fled on foot.
The SAPS war-room division deployed a chopper to track the suspects, hoping that they would not have been able to run too far from the scene as one of them was injured.
None of the deceased had been identified at the time of publication.
Three hours later, the five bodies still lay scattered across the N3. Traffic was badly affected as the freeway had to be closed down.
Gauteng traffic police spokesman Obed Sibasa said last night that two people who were critically injured in the crash were flown by helicopter to ChrisHani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
Nkosi-Malobane described the incident as unfortunate, saying “just because of two criminals, five lives have been lost”.
She said that earlier this month, the alleged robbers had hijacked the white Mercedes they had used as their getaway vehicle.
A hunt is on for the men.
The Star