Mozambique: Airline Crew Members Robbed At Gunpoint

Maputo — Unknown assailants on Wednesday morning attacked and robbed at gunpoint members of the crew of a Mozambique Airlines (LAM) plane as they were on their way to Maputo International Airport to begin their day's work.

Eyewitnesses cited in Thursday's issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, said the robbery occurred at about 05.30 at a set of traffic lights on the road from the center of the city to the airport.

The Nissan Urvan, in which the LAM crew members were traveling, stopped at a red light, and was then attacked by six men armed with pistols. Two of them immobilized the driver and took the keys from the ignition. The rest of the gang took all the bags of the crew members out of the boot of the vehicle, and then made good their escape.

This is the second such incident involving airline pilots so far this year. On 15 January, an attack was reported against two pilots of the Portuguese airline TAP.

They were traveling in a taxi, which was stopped by five armed men using a pick-up truck. One of the gang entered the taxi, and forced the driver to drive to a more remote part of the city. The thieves then obliged the two pilots to hand over all the money in their wallets.

No-one has yet been arrested in connection with these thefts.

Source:   http://allafrica.com