An eight-year-old boy was confirmed dead on Wednesday morning after the ambulance he was being transported in was ambushed on the N2 highway near Borcherds Quarry in Cape Town.

The ambulance, which was on its way to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, was held up by gunmen and robbed.

Emergency services spokesperson Robert Daniels said the child died because of the delay caused by the attack.

“Unfortunately, the critically injured eight-year-old patient in the back of the ambulance – a boy with severe head injuries he sustained during a motor vehicle accident last night – passed away at the scene due to the delay caused by yet another attack on EMS personnel,” he said.