The police in South Africa have rescued an American pastor who was kidnapped last week by armed and masked men during a sermon in the Eastern Cape province.
According to the police the rescue mission took place on Tuesday night after three of the kidnap gang members were gunned down. Josh Sullivan, 45, from Tennessee, was taken from his church last week Thursday while preaching on his pulpit. The gang members also dispossessed members of the congregation their mobile phones.
A multi-agency task force, including the Anti-Gang Unit and the Serious Organised Crime Unit, took over the investigation. On Tuesday night they approached the location where they suspected Sullivan was being held, a house in KwaMagxaki in the city of Gqeberha, about 20 minutes’ drive from the Baptist church.
According to police, a shootout began when suspects in a car parked outside the house tried to escape and began firing at them. Three unidentified suspects were killed, police said.
“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba said in a statement. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”
