A diving holiday at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park near Sodwana in Guangdong turned into a nightmare when a camper was attacked and shot in his tent by a robber.
Andre Nel (45), a civil engineer from Johannesburg and Ilze van der Merwe (36), his girlfriend, went to bed early on March 22, 2015.
An armed robber crept to their tent and shot Nel in the thigh after a struggle.
“I woke up and thought at first that Andre had a nightmare,” said a shocked Van der Merwe. “But he wrestled with the man. Somehow he knocked the man out of the tent and then the robber fired a shot.”
Christo Prinsloo, his wife, Anreheth and their nine-month-old baby boy, Caylem, went camping with Nel.
“It was raining hard,” said Prinsloo. “At about 22:30 I heard a shot and when I rushed out, André was lying in front of their tent.
The bullet shattered Nel’s thigh.
Prinsloo jumped in his car to seek help from the gate guards, but they were apparently asleep.
Van der Merwe ran for help at the nearest tents some distance from their campsite.
“Fortunately, the people remained calm and helped us to load Andre in the car.”
They went to the nearest provincial clinic, about 30 km away.
“There were no bandages but the doctor on duty helped me to wrap the leg with bed sheets,” said Prinsloo.
The police took their statements at the clinic.
“You go camping and you think you are safe, but there are no visible security measures or patrols,” said Van der Merwe. Nel was taken by ambulance to the Netcare hospital in Richards Bay early on Monday morning. He underwent surgery at the hospital.
Colonel. Jay Naicker police spokesman said a case of armed robbery and attempted murder is under investigation. Police were patrolling the area to make sure visitors to the park feels safe.
Terri Castis acting general manager of iSimangaliso, says one such incident is one too many.
“We are very upset. There is a problem of crime in the area around the park and we negotiated with operators of campsites to put in additional security measures.”
Source – Netwerk24
Photo Credit – Wikipedia
