St John stops service after stoning of ambulance

THE St John Ambulance service in Chimbu will be temporarily stopped until an ambulance that was stoned last week is repaired, chief executive officer Matt Cannon says.
He said while attending to an emergency in Gumine, an ambulance crew was attacked by people who threw stones as they were approaching the Sipagkul village.
“We don’t understand at this point why they were acting hostile towards ambulance,” he said.
“A rock made contact with one of the side windows of the ambulance, smashing the window and causing damage to the side of the vehicle.”
Cannon said the ambulance affected was one of two in Kundiawa and would be off the road for about a week while repairs were done.
He said the second ambulance for Kundiawa was also having scheduled maintenance.
“As a result of this, we won’t be able to provide ambulance service to all people of Chimbu until the vehicle is repaired,” he said.
“We are disappointed when events like this happen.”