Mass shooting at a South African bar leaves 11 dead, including 3 children
Police say shootings at illegal taverns are becoming a serious problem, and over 11,000 such establishments have been shut down recently
A mass shooting carried out on Saturday by multiple suspects in an unlicensed bar near the South African capital left at least 11 people dead, police said. The victims included three children aged three, 12 and 16.
Another 14 people were wounded and taken to hospital, according to a statement from the South African Police Service. Police did not give details on the ages of those who were injured or their conditions.
The shooting happened at a bar inside a hostel in the Saulsville township west of the administrative capital of Pretoria in the early hours of Saturday. Ten of the victims died at the scene and the 11th died in the hospital, police said.
The children killed were a three-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Police said they were searching for three male suspects.
“We are told that at least three unknown gunmen entered this hostel where a group of people were drinking and they started randomly shooting,” police spokeswoman Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told national broadcaster SABC.
She said the motive for the killings was not clear. The shootings happened at around 4.15am, she said, but police were only alerted at 6am.
