Firefighter stoned by mob
Firefighter stoned by mob
29 March 2007
published by www.paarlpost.com
Paarl,Western Cape, South Africa — A firefghter narrowly escaped serious injury on Monday evening, not due to a blazing fire, but at the hands of an unruly mob.
Brendan van Schoor was amongst a handful of fire-fighters who were extinguishing a veld-fire near the Magnolia flats in Paarl East.
When the blaze was extinguished and they were busy packing up their equipment, various people started pelting stones at them.
Before van Schoor could reach the safety of a vehicle, a stone hit him om the forehead.
He was immediately transported to Paarl MediClinic with blood pouring from the wound. Here he received a number of stiches to his head.
A spokesperson for the Drakenstein fire-services, Dereck Peceur, said that this type of action was unacceptable.
We are here to provide a valuable service to the public and to protect them from fires.
Incidents such as this one can seriously affect the way in which some fire-fighters do their job.
If they fear for their lives when having to enter a certain area, it will negatively affect their performances.
Peceur said that a few years ago they experienced a spate of attacks when tending to emergency situations, but since then they have been treated with respect when entering fire zones.
I cannot understand what would prompt such action, he said this week.
After being treated at MediClinic on Monday evening, van Schoor was discharged, but was readmitted early on Tuesday morning due to dizziness and headaches.
He was hospitalised for further observation.
