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Nine people were killed and at least 10 others were injured in a shooting by a group of gunmen south african pub during the early hours of Sunday, officials said.
The incident occurred just before 1 a.m. in the city of Bekkersdal, which is located 46 kilometers (28 miles) west. johannesburgThis is the second mass shooting in South Africa in three weeks,
According to police, about 12 unidentified suspects traveling in a white minibus and a silver sedan opened fire on pub patrons at the Kwanoxolo Tavern in the Tambo section of Bekkersdal and continued firing randomly as they fled the scene.
Police said of the incident, “Some victims were shot randomly on the streets by unidentified gunmen, leaving nine dead and 10 hospitalised.”
Provincial Police Commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said SABC Television reported that one of the dead was a driver for an online car-hailing service who had been outside the pub.
The Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigation in collaboration with the Crime Detection Tracing Unit has launched a search for suspects in a multiple gunshot incident.
There have been several mass shootings at bars – sometimes called shebeens or taverns in South Africa – in recent years, including a mass shooting by multiple suspects at an unlicensed bar near the South African capital that left at least 12 dead and 13 injured earlier this month.
16 people killed in another shooting in Johannesburg township soweto In 2022. The same day, four people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in another province.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with nearly 26,000 murders in 2024 or an average of more than 70 murders per day. By far the leading cause of death in homicides is firearms. Although gun control laws are comparatively strict in the country of 62 million, authorities say many murders are committed using illegal firearms.