Attempted hold up captured and shared online

An expatriate family from Australia barely escaped a hold up near Varirata Park, outside Port Moresby, on Saturday afternoon around five pm.

If not for the quick reaction of the father, the family including two children aged 6 and 8, could have fallen victim to the group of men that attempted to hold them up.

The whole ordeal had been captured with a dash board camera.

Roxy Steljic and her husband are administration workers at Pacific Adventist University. They were on a tour trip to Sogeri with her father in-law who had just flown in from Australia for the first time, and despite PNG’s bad reputation, were determined to have a good time when they were nearly attacked.

She said they were returning from sightseeing and just passed Varirata when they noticed a vehicle tailing them.

She said: “We first noticed a white vehicle stationed just off the road going to Port Moresby, and another grey vehicle passed it. Driving on further there was another Ute, in which we later realised the driver could’ve been signalling us to stop - as shown in the video. However, we never noticed”.

Driving further up, after passing the Ute, they then saw that the grey car had stopped, blocking access on the road – when all the doors opened and five armed men rushed towards their vehicle with factory made guns.

“They were holding big guns, one of the guys could’ve been holding a machete or a bat, but as shown in the video – he dropped it and picked it up again while the other men rushed towards our vehicle”.

The quick and skilful driving of her husband who had reacted swiftly in reversing the vehicle saved the lives of this expatriate family. However, before they had successfully escaped, the video shows that the first white vehicle they had passed was behind them, and could’ve been an accomplice.

Steljic said it was a very scary and traumatising experience; she can only imagine what could’ve happened – but she said it is a sad situation as they have been residents for over two years and Sogeri was one place they visited often.

The six-minute long video has captured even the number plate of the vehicle the criminals were in and close up shots of some of the men, and shows how the family had turned, heading back to Sogeri.

A short version of the video has been posted on social media with a warning to commuters and the general public.

A formal report has also been placed at the Sogeri police station. However, they will be placing another report at Boroko for quick actions to be taken.

Check out the video: https://www.facebook.com/rsteljic/videos/10155041556972544/

(Picture shows frameshots taken from the video)


Author: 
Imelda Wavik
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