A woman was killed when a vehicle involved in a high-speed chase with cops crashed into her car in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - A high-speed chase ended with the death of a motorist on the corner of Buitengragt and Strand street in the CBD early on Monday morning.
The woman was killed when a Toyota Avanza, driven by suspected hijackers, crashed into her Opel Corsa, at about 5am on Monday.
The two occupants of the Toyota were being pursued by police.
They were suspects in a hijacking that occurred in Nyanga earlier on Monday morning, said Merle Lourens, spokeswoman for the city’s traffic services.
The hijacking was picked up by Skytracker, which notified the police. The flying squad gave chase, and followed the Toyota into the CBD. Police confirmed that a gun was found on the scene of the crash.
Speaking on CapeTalk on Monday morning the woman’s sister-in-law, who identified herself only as Janine, said the victim’s husband was trying to get to the scene of the accident.
However, he could not get through because of the heavy traffic congestion.
The woman’s body was taken to the Salt River mortuary before he could reach the scene.
Travelling up Strand Street, with police in pursuit, the Toyota went through a red traffic light, crossing into the lane of oncoming traffic on Buitengragt, said witness David Moshesh.
The two suspects were unharmed and were arrested, said police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk. The driver of the Opel Corsa was declared dead on the scene.
Theo Layne, spokesman for the city’s Fire and Rescue services, said his officials had responded to assist in securing the scene.
Lourens said police forensic investigators had to secure the scene, blocking off the entire intersection, because there had been a fatality.
“There were obviously disruptions to traffic. But our officers were on the scene to advise motorists about alternative routes and to divert the traffic appropriately.”
Cape Argus