** South African ambulance hijacked, torched
** Hawaii paramedic dies while free diving
SOUTH AFRICA NEWS
** A Durban ambulance was hijacked at gunpoint Monday, with the robbers setting the vehicle on
fire after forcing the EMS crew to leave. That is the word from News 24
(Amanda Khoza/December 22) which said the 10 p.m. incident played out after the prehospital
crew was dispatched to attend a maternity patient. According to the newspaper, once on-scene
medics were forced to surrender their cell phones, then told to run. While exiting the scene, the
ambulance and all its equipment was torched. A spokesman for the ambulance service said the
employees involved have been referred for counseling. The police, meanwhile, continue to investigate.
UNITED STATES NEWS
** A Hawaii medic from Maui is dead after a free diving accident Saturday. The Molokai Dispatch
(Catherine Cluett/December 21) said Steven Likua, 26, died around near Kaiaka Rock.
According to the newspaper, Likua failed to surface with other divers he had been with, prompting
a call to EMS around 6:20 p.m. A search by fire and Coast Guard personnel failed to find him that
day. Air, water, and ground searches on Sunday eventually located Likua’s body in the waters off
Kaiaka Point. Autopsy results are pending. Likua was something of a celebrity, becoming Maui’s
youngest paramedic in 2012 at the age of 22. His father is also a paramedic. Along with his EMS
accomplishments, Likua was also known as an accomplished diver and surfer.
