Seventeen people have been killed in a mass shooting in a remote South African town with a manhunt underway to find the perpetrators, police say.
Two homesteads in the town of Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape were targeted, police said, with 12 women and one man killed in one location, and three women and one man at a second location.
An 18th victim is in a critical condition in hospital, the South Africa Police Service said.
The police minister, Senzo Mchunu, is expected to visit the area where the attack occurred.
South African media outlets are reporting the victims were relatives and neighbours in Nyathi village, Ngobozana in Lusikisiki.
They said the group had been gathered at the houses to prepare to attend a traditional mourning ceremony for a mother and daughter who were murdered a year ago.
The victims had been packing goods and presents, including furniture, for the event when the attack occurred on Friday night, according to the media reports.
News outlet Dispatch Live quoted local Ingquza Hil mayor Nonkosi Pepping saying: “The gunmen came and shot randomly… This has left the community terrified.”
South Africa Police Service spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told Newzroom Afrika that there had been a total of 19 people sleeping in two homes at one of the shooting locations.
She said there had been six survivors at one homestead – four women, a man, and a two-month-old child who was uninjured but taken to hospital as a precaution. There were no survivors at the other homestead.
Officials have yet to determine the motive or make any arrests.
Source: Vanguard
Have a press release, feature, article for publication? Send it to us via Whatsapp on +233543452542.
