Thursday 8 November 2012

Attempt to rob patients at dialysis centre fails


Some 10 patients at a dialysis centre, here, locked themselves up in the treatment room after five men armed with parang went on a rampage there on Saturday.

The armed men had gone there with the intention to rob the patients and the staff but were thwarted when the victims locked themselves in and started screaming for help.

The robbers escaped with only a bag belonging to one of the patients but they smashed up the place before leaving.

The manager of the centre, who declined to be named, said the incident has shaken up nurses and patients who frequent the place.

"We are all still very afraid. I'm concerned about the patients, some of whom come in wheelchairs," she added.

Relating the incident, the manager said that robbers, wearing crash helmets, entered the compound of the centre at around 3pm. Two patients who were seated in the waiting room quickly ran into the treatment room and locked the door behind them when the saw the men whip out parang.

The suspects could not gain access to the waiting room as it could only be opened with a security code.

"So they smashed the glass door and entered the waiting room. By that time, there was pandemonium as the six nurses and patients rushed into the treatment room.

"The robbers then broke the glass panel of the door to the treatment room and tried to open the door. But the nurses kept screaming for the police. After a while, they gave up and left," the manager said.

Before they left, the robbers broke the glass window of the centre's pharmacy out of their frustration of leaving almost empty-handed.

"I don't understand how a dialysis centre, where mostly only old folks come to, can be a target for robbers. I am grateful nobody was harmed," the manager said.

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