Heavily armed police officers are combing the banks of the Umhlangane River for two gunmen who fled after a shootout on the N2 near Riverhorse Valley‚ north of Durban.
As a police helicopter circled above‚ officers held rifles at the ready and fanned out down the embankment toward the river on Friday.
The search follows a shootout between police and gunmen that forced the closure of the N2 southbound highway near KwaMashu.
A well-placed police source‚ who could not be named‚ said members of the Hawks and National Intervention Unit had intercepted a car they believed to be on its way to commit a house robbery.
As police followed the car‚ a white Mercedes‚ a shootout ensued and the cars collided‚ veering through the centre median into oncoming traffic.
In the hail of gunfire that followed‚ two gunmen were killed and a third was wounded and arrested. Two of their cohorts fled into the thick brush.
A police officer and several motorists were injured.
Rescue Care spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said a woman‚ whose car was hit by the out of control vehicles‚ was treated by medics.
Two police officers‚ who sustained serious injuries‚ were also treated at the scene.
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