According to the latest information, at least 18 people have been killed in two gun attacks in South Africa. 17 other people were injured in the attacks in Soweto and Pietermaritzburg. For the time being, the police have not confirmed any connection between the attacks.
At least 18 people were killed and 17 others injured in gun attacks in two bars in South Africa. In Soweto, several attackers shot at a celebrating crowd on Sunday night and killed 14 people, according to the police in the Johannesburg suburb, according to the AFP news agency. The news agency “DPA” reported 15 dead. In a similar case in Pietermaritzburg, two attackers shot bar patrons indiscriminately, killing four of them.
Shortly after midnight, the masked perpetrators entered the bar in a slum area and opened fire, said Elias Mawela, head of the Gauteng provincial police, at a press conference. They “fired indiscriminately” and used high caliber weapons.
Crying relatives try to get into the bar
Police in Soweto were called to the scene around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday night, police officer Nonhlanhla Kubheka told AFP. There, the officers found twelve bodies with gunshot wounds. Of the eleven people who were taken to the hospital, two later succumbed to their injuries. Two of the eleven surviving injured are still in critical condition. The victims are said to be between 19 and 35 years old.
It was initially unclear who carried out the attack. “They arrived and shot at people who were enjoying themselves,” Kubheka said. So far nothing has been said about the motives.
Initially, no one was arrested. Police were still at the scene of the crime this morning. Hundreds of people gathered behind the police barrier, as reported by journalists from the “AFP” news agency. Weeping relatives tried to get to the bar but were prevented from doing so by police officers.
Four dead in second shooting in South Africa
Soweto is the largest township of Johannesburg. The bar under attack is located in Soweto’s Orlando Borough. An attack on a bar in Pietermaritzburg had already occurred on Saturday evening around 8.30 p.m. before the crime. Four people were killed and eight others injured, local police spokesman Nqobile Gwala said on Sunday.
The police spokesman reported that when a group of people had a drink together in a bar, a car was parked in front of it. “Two men jumped out of the car, went into the bar and opened fire on the customers indiscriminately.” The fatalities were said to be between 30 and 34 years old.
The procedure for the two attacks was similar. However, the police initially did not want to confirm a connection between the crimes.
Homicides and violent crime are on the rise in South Africa
At the end of June, the death of 21 young people in a bar in east London in the south of the country made headlines. Survivors reported an acrid odor and dense crowding in the completely overcrowded bar.
More than 30 teenagers were hospitalized with symptoms including back pain, chest tightness, vomiting and headaches. The police investigated the suspicion that it was poisoning with gas or another substance.
Murders and other violent crimes have increased sharply in South Africa this year, South Africa’s Police Minister Bheki Cele said in early June. According to police statistics, 6,083 people were killed between January and March – a good 22 percent more than in the same period last year.
