Eastern Cape Looters Delay Assisting Injured During Crash, SA Disappointed

• Eastern Cape residents went viral in a video of an accident in which a truck collided with a taxi
• The accident happened on the R72 near King Phalo Air[port, and although there were people injured in the accident, residents did not attend to them
• South Africans condemned the incident and called out looters for their crime, slamming them for being insensitive

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered accidents, fires, outbreaks, nature, weather and natural disaster-related incidents at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

EASTERN CAPE — Looters in the Eastern Cape prevented emergency medical services from reaching the victims of an accident on the R72 in East London on 20 December 2024. Numerous were injured, and a teenage girl reportedly lost her life during the crash.

Accident on the R72

The accident happened near the Koing Phalo Airport in East London and involved a truck and a taxi. The two vehicles reportedly collided while trying to avoid running the girl over. The taxi and truck's passengers received minor injuries. In the video @_ArriveAlive posted, residents aswarm around the truck, and the taxi is shown squashed next to it. Community members and motorists enter the truck and loot the truck's contents.

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View the video:

The narrator noted a disturbing trend in which residents in the area run to accident scenes and even rob the victims of the crash. Another accident in October in KwaZulu-Natal resulted in residents of the community looting the meat truck that was involved in the accident.

South Africans condemn the incident

Netizens on Facebook condemned the looters' behaviour. South Africans also condemned the looting of a Simba truck in Uitsig, Cape Town, in July.

Motsamai Mozaila Mosia said:

"Starving people are a danger to society."

Jodi De Matos said:

"A lawless country."

Arnold Bheki said:

"Poverty at its best."

Sakata Gintoki said:

"Nothing to do with poverty. Some of them get out of their cars to steal."

Datjoe Hamer said:

"The ANC has stripped the masses of dignity and made it acceptable to be a thief."

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South African loot atchaar truck

In a related article, Briefly News reported that residents of a Mpumalanga community looted an atchaar truck in August. A taxi and a truck collided on the road, resulting in an accident.

Members of the community flocked to the scene and looted the truck. South Africans called residents out for looting the truck and slammed the community's actions.

Source: Briefly News