At least 11 people, including three minors, were killed in a shooting at a bar in a township near the South African administrative capital Pretoria, police said on Saturday.
Another 14 people were injured and taken to hospital.according to a statement from the South African police. Police did not provide any information about the age of the injured.
The shooting happened early Saturday at an unlicensed bar in Saulsville township, west of Pretoria. Local media reported that the bar was located in a hostel.
The minors who died were a three-year-old boy, a twelve-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.. Police said they were looking for three suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with more than 26,000 in 2024, an average of more than 70 per day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun laws, but authorities say many deaths are committed with illegal weapons.
There have been several mass shootings in bars – sometimes called shebeens or taverns – in recent years, including one in which 16 people were killed in Johannesburg’s Soweto township in 2022.
In September last year, 18 people, including 15 women, were killed in mass shootings at two houses in a rural part of the Eastern Cape province. A man has been accused of shooting victims with an assault rifle.
“As for the deceased, the youngest is three years old. We also have a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old, and the other eight deceased are adults.”confirmed state police spokeswoman Athletics Mathe.
The shooting occurred at dawn on Saturday in a bar and the number of injured rose to 14, including the owner of the bar, according to local media.
“We have been informed that at least three unknown armed men entered this hostel where a group of people were drinking and started shooting indiscriminately.”said Math.
“We continue to investigate the motive, but as I have indicated, all means have been used to arrest those responsible for this incident.”he added.
According to South African police, a total of 25 people were shot and an operation was launched to search for the three suspects.
According to official figures, homicides are among the most common crimes in South Africa. Between January and March of this year, 5,727 murders were registered there; between April and September the average number of homicides was 63 per day.
(With information from AP and EFE)