Ambulance delay leads to death
An unknown man died as a result of his injuries after being assaulted
AN unknown man in his forties, died on Wednesday, August 10, at a dumping site near Covenant Christian Center in Wolseley Street after waiting for hours for an ambulance to arrive.
The grossly and fatally assaulted man was noticed by a passer-by, Venessa Femmer (27), who heard heavy groaning coming from the rubbish heaps.
The woman investigated and found the half-naked man still alive, but seemingly in a lot of pain from the multiple head and face injuries he sustained.
“This was around 06:40 and I immediately called the police who arrived quite quickly,” said Femmer.
Captain Mpongose, who was at the scene and realised that the assaulted man was still alive, immediately dispatched two constables to Palmridge to summon an ambulance. Unfortunately the ambulance never arrived and the man died.
When the RECORD arrived at the scene at 08:20, the man had already been declared dead by the police.
“At the Palmridge Fire Department the ambulance staff chose to take a sick patient to hospital first instead of coming out to tend to the victim. They took a patient who refused to be taken to hospital the previous night. We waited for hours and they never came,” said Constable Mabokela, who was dispatched to summon the ambulance.
The dead man, half naked and only in his underwear, remained on the dump site among the rubbish until 15:20 when he was taken away to the government mortuary.
Inspector Seroke, the investigating officer, told the RECORD that the dead man was possibly or probably attacked with heavy stones and blows to his head and face.
“The injuries show that the deceased was hit with big stones or a heavy metal object to his head and face. Only two bruises were seen on his body.
“The deceased was also strangled with a plastic bag which was still wrapped around his neck. His body and knees reflected that he was dragged from one place to another. The man remains unknown while we are busy with the investigations,” the inspector said.
A murder case was open at the Eden Park police, who are investigating. Many bystanders alleged that the man was from Greenfields.
At the time of print the RECORD has not received any comment regarding the ambulance which never arrived.
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