Scenes Of Chaos In Durban As Protest Over 9-Year-Old Girl's Death Turns Ugly

The death of a nine-year-old girl in a botched hijacking in Durban has turned attention on rising crime in the area.
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Scenes of chaos took place outside the Chatsworth police station on Monday, when police fired teargas and stun grenades at a crowd protesting the death of nine-year-old Sadia Sukhraj, killed in a botched hijacking.

News24 reported that she was shot by the hijackers while in the car. Hijackers stopped the car in which she was travelling, with her father, and sped off.

On Monday, hundreds of community members gathered at the Chatsworth police station demanding that the police arrest the suspects.

Three people were reportedly wounded by rubber bullets.

According to Times Select, the girl was found lying in the car and was rushed to hospital where she later died.

Police are said to still be piecing together the chain of events. Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala told Times Select that they could not say who shot at the car, although there were unconfirmed reports that it was an off-duty police officer.

But the Daily News reported that a member of the public who witnessed the hijacking fired several shots at the vehicle.

The hijacker apparently lost control of the car and crashed into a park. One of the hijackers was reportedly arrested.

The car reportedly drove into a truck, driven by Petros Ngubane, who told Times Select that he was looking for an address when the car crashed into him.

"It was a silver-grey car and then it hit my truck on the side. I then alighted to see the damage caused on the truck. While I was standing there, the car sped off and came around again [as the road was a cul de sac] and it parked behind the truck.

"When I went them to ask if they saw the damage they caused on the truck, they tried to run me over and hit me on the leg," he reportedly said.

Shallcross Crime Forum chairperson, Mahendra Lillkan told the Daily News that there was a recent spike in crime in the area.

"We are out on patrol from the evening till late but it seems the hijackers have changed the times to commit their crimes. There is a pathway to an informal settlement next to the school. The area is very busy and this makes it difficult to distinguish between a hijacker and one of the residents. Our sincere condolences to the family who lost a loved one," he said.

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