Wounded rhino poacher dies in KZN hospital

A rhino poacher wounded in a shootout in Ndumo has died in hospital, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife said on Thursday.

"He passed away last night," said spokesman Musa Mntambo.

He was wounded in a shootout with the wildlife's anti-poaching unit on Wednesday morning.

The unit was attempting to foil a rhino poaching attempt by three people, one of them armed.

"When these poachers were intercepted, the shooting ensued," Mntambo said at the time.

The armed poacher and one of his accomplices escaped and had not yet been found.

"The third one was badly injured and police were unable to speak to him in hospital before he passed away," he said.