A 28-year-old man was killed by an unknown suspect while being treated for a stab wound at the All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo, Eastern Cape police said on Sunday.  

The incident happened on Sunday morning around 03:00, spokesperson Captain Namhla Mdleleni said.  

“It is alleged that the deceased was at casualty section of the hospital waiting to be stitched on his stab wounds, when an unknown man came and stabbed him to death,” Mdleleni said. 

Mdleleni said officers were following leads.

According to Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo, while doctors were busy attending to the victim, “a knife-wielding man [barged] in and said he wanted to finish the patient off”. 

“There were 10 guards deployed in various points of the hospital, but the man forced his way through casualty security by withdrawing a knife. 

“The doctor and nurses ran for their lives, while the security guards could not prevent the man from stabbing the patient to death,” Kupelo said.  

The suspect fled the scene before the police arrived on the scene, he said, adding that staff members who witnessed the stabbing incident would receive trauma counselling.

Kupelo said security measures were being reviewed at the hospital. 

Police appealed to anyone who could assist with information that could lead to an arrest to contact Lieutenant Colonel Matolweni on 0823027484.  

*Article appeared on News 24 Crime