World hiccup: Gunmen rob China reporters
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
June 11, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Four Chinese journalists in South Africa for the World Cup of football have been robbed at gunpoint in their car in daylight hours on the streets of Johannesburg.
The four were from east China's Anhui Province.
A group of armed robbers approached the moving media car and flagged it down on Wednesday.
One reporter was threatened by the robbers and all surrendered their cash and cameras before the felons fled, leaving their victims shaken but uninjured.
One of the victims said South Africa was not safe and car windows should always be kept shut, Beijing News reported yesterday.
The opening match of 2010 football World Cup will take place today in Soweto, a town outside Johannesburg.
A Chinese migrant, surnamed Wang, living in South Africa said robberies were common in the country.
The incident follows the armed robbery of Spanish and Portuguese journalists at a lodge north of Johannesburg on Wednesday and stoked security concerns in the country just ahead of the opening match.
FIFA, the international governing body of football, said yesterday that three arrests had been made in connection with the robbery involving the Spanish and Portuguese and that all stolen property had been recovered.
"We know that the police are taking care of the situation," FIFA spokesman Wolfgang Eichler said.
"They have arrested three people. They have handed back to the people their valuables, including cash."
Eichler said the lodge where the offense occurred was not FIFA-approved.
The Chinese journalists had been in the country for just a few hours and were on their way to Soweto, local paper Beeld reported.
Meanwhile, a larger police presence in the town which is the Portugal squad base and where robbers held a World Cup photographer at gunpoint on Wednesday has settled some nerves.
The incident, in which armed robbers raided the Nutbush Boma Lodge, where 20 Portuguese and Spanish journalists are lodged, has raised concerns about security in the host nation but FIFA played down the incident in Magaliesburg saying its main concern was traffic chaos.
"It's just ridiculous - a total lack of respect for people who have come here to work, to show this country to the whole world," Antonio Simoes, the photographer whom robbers held at gunpoint and stole his camera, cash and credit cards, told Reuters.
Several photographers covering the cup have reported equipment being stolen from baggage upon arrival at O.R. Tambo Airport, the main gateway to Johannesburg.
The four were from east China's Anhui Province.
A group of armed robbers approached the moving media car and flagged it down on Wednesday.
One reporter was threatened by the robbers and all surrendered their cash and cameras before the felons fled, leaving their victims shaken but uninjured.
One of the victims said South Africa was not safe and car windows should always be kept shut, Beijing News reported yesterday.
The opening match of 2010 football World Cup will take place today in Soweto, a town outside Johannesburg.
A Chinese migrant, surnamed Wang, living in South Africa said robberies were common in the country.
The incident follows the armed robbery of Spanish and Portuguese journalists at a lodge north of Johannesburg on Wednesday and stoked security concerns in the country just ahead of the opening match.
FIFA, the international governing body of football, said yesterday that three arrests had been made in connection with the robbery involving the Spanish and Portuguese and that all stolen property had been recovered.
"We know that the police are taking care of the situation," FIFA spokesman Wolfgang Eichler said.
"They have arrested three people. They have handed back to the people their valuables, including cash."
Eichler said the lodge where the offense occurred was not FIFA-approved.
The Chinese journalists had been in the country for just a few hours and were on their way to Soweto, local paper Beeld reported.
Meanwhile, a larger police presence in the town which is the Portugal squad base and where robbers held a World Cup photographer at gunpoint on Wednesday has settled some nerves.
The incident, in which armed robbers raided the Nutbush Boma Lodge, where 20 Portuguese and Spanish journalists are lodged, has raised concerns about security in the host nation but FIFA played down the incident in Magaliesburg saying its main concern was traffic chaos.
"It's just ridiculous - a total lack of respect for people who have come here to work, to show this country to the whole world," Antonio Simoes, the photographer whom robbers held at gunpoint and stole his camera, cash and credit cards, told Reuters.
Several photographers covering the cup have reported equipment being stolen from baggage upon arrival at O.R. Tambo Airport, the main gateway to Johannesburg.
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