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MASKED MEN
AMBUSH
STORE TRUCK
ADELAIDE, Wed-
nesday. — The Anda-
mooka Co-operative
Store's truck, on its
three-times-a-week run
to Adelaide for sup-
plies and mail, was
ambushed and held up
by three masked men,
two of them armed,
today.
The ambush took place
in a creek-bed 30 miles
south of the Andamooka
opal fields.
The truck, driven by Mr
C. L. Hoffman, 44, of
Andamooka, and Mr Bill
Giles, 18, of Port Germein,
left the store at 7.30am.
Drivers at
gunpoint
Three hours later, when
it reached the creek bed it
was stopped by a row of
oil drums placed across the
northern approach which is
shielded from the road by
two sandhills and a dense
covering scrub.
As the drivers jumped
from the truck to move
the drums they were held
at gunpoint by three men,
masked by woollen bala-
clava helmets into which
plastic inserts had been
sewn to cover all but their
eyes.
One man was armed
with a rifle and another
with a pistol.
The driver of the truck
and his passenger were
threatened by the armed
men, tied up and placed in
the back of the truck. Two
of the men then drove the
truck towards Port Augusta.
When it was about 17
miles from Port Augusta,
the driver and his compan-
ion got free, found a nearby
property and telephoned
the Port Augusta police.
One of the hold-up men,
who was following in a
station sedan, then picked
up his companions and
made off.
The driver received a
head wound in an assault
by one of the men.
The police believe an at-
tempt was made to open a
mailbag.
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