Police are searching for two people who shot a patient in the head and killed him at a Durban hospital, while the health department re-evaluates its security measures after the incident.

The armed men entered Clairwood Hospital in Mobeni at around 18:30 on Friday, said police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala.

“[They] fatally shot a 47-year-old patient.”

According to KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, the “execution-style fatal shooting” happened in the male surgical ward.

The patient, a foreign national, was receiving treatment for previous gunshot wounds, she said in a statement.

The patient had been transferred from King Edward VIII Hospital to Clairwood Hospital on December 23 for wound care and rehabilitation.

“It is alleged that… two unknown armed men stormed past hospital security guards and proceeded to locate the man in his bed, and shot him in the head at point blank range in full view of other patients and hospital staff,” said Simelane-Zulu.

The gunmen then got into a vehicle and drove off.

When they got to the main hospital gate, which had been closed by hospital security guards, they threatened to shoot the guards and forced the gate open before fleeing.

“Although it is not always possible to predict an incident of this nature, which appears well planned, the fact that these perpetrators were able to escape without getting apprehended by security or law enforcement does call into question our preparedness, as a department, to react effectively to such acts,” said Simelane-Zulu.

“It means that our system is not as effective as we would have liked to think. Notwithstanding the fact that these people were armed, and that they also threatened our security guards, we should have had a system in place that ought to have made it difficult for them to get away.

She said they would urgently have to look at their security protocols and make improvements within their limited financial means.

No arrests have been made.

Source: News 24