Photographer, journalist robbed at hotel
Source: Agencies |
June 10, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A PORTUGUESE photographer was held up at gunpoint early yesterday and two other journalists were also robbed at the same World Cup hotel.
Antonio Simoes said he woke around 4am and found two men entering his room at the Nutbush Boma Lodge outside of Magaliesburg, 120km northwest of Johannesburg.
"One of the guys pointed a hand gun at my head, and then they took all my gear - cameras, lenses, laptop," said Simoes, who works for the Portuguese daily O Jogo. "Then they told me to lie on the bed and they covered me with a blanket, pressed the gun against my head and told me to sleep. The whole thing took one or two minutes, but it felt like hours," Simoes said.
Simoes said the three cameras and gear the thieves stole was worth about 30,000 euros (US$35,000). They also took 3,500 euros in cash as well as his passport and a pair of jeans. The photographer said he stayed in bed for a while after being robbed, too scared to move and worrying about what was happening in the other rooms.
Spanish journalist Miguel Serrano, who works for the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, and Rui Gustavo Morais were also robbed, but they slept through it. The three were sharing a three-bedroom lodge.
Serrano said he slept while his room was cleared out by the thieves, who took a laptop computer, a cell phone and more than US$3,000 in cash - in both Euros and South African rand.
"They took everything except my dirty clothes and my World Cup accreditation," he said.
Lt. Colonel Leon Engelbrecht of the South African Police Service confirmed that police were looking for two suspects, but would not say whether any arrests had been made. Serrano said police had told him one suspect had already been arrested.
"Two of the journalists slept through the robbery, but one was awake," Engelbrecht said. "This is obviously high-profile, so we have to make sure we are on top of this. We are still waiting for detailed information from the scene."
Antonio Simoes said he woke around 4am and found two men entering his room at the Nutbush Boma Lodge outside of Magaliesburg, 120km northwest of Johannesburg.
"One of the guys pointed a hand gun at my head, and then they took all my gear - cameras, lenses, laptop," said Simoes, who works for the Portuguese daily O Jogo. "Then they told me to lie on the bed and they covered me with a blanket, pressed the gun against my head and told me to sleep. The whole thing took one or two minutes, but it felt like hours," Simoes said.
Simoes said the three cameras and gear the thieves stole was worth about 30,000 euros (US$35,000). They also took 3,500 euros in cash as well as his passport and a pair of jeans. The photographer said he stayed in bed for a while after being robbed, too scared to move and worrying about what was happening in the other rooms.
Spanish journalist Miguel Serrano, who works for the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, and Rui Gustavo Morais were also robbed, but they slept through it. The three were sharing a three-bedroom lodge.
Serrano said he slept while his room was cleared out by the thieves, who took a laptop computer, a cell phone and more than US$3,000 in cash - in both Euros and South African rand.
"They took everything except my dirty clothes and my World Cup accreditation," he said.
Lt. Colonel Leon Engelbrecht of the South African Police Service confirmed that police were looking for two suspects, but would not say whether any arrests had been made. Serrano said police had told him one suspect had already been arrested.
"Two of the journalists slept through the robbery, but one was awake," Engelbrecht said. "This is obviously high-profile, so we have to make sure we are on top of this. We are still waiting for detailed information from the scene."
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