A group of 12 gunmen killed nine people and injured ten others in an attack near Johannesburg, South Africa’s financial capital, in the early hours of Sunday (21).
According to police information, the criminals opened fire on a tavern in Bekkersdal, a peripheral district located about 40 kilometers from Johannesburg, around 1 a.m. local time.
Authorities are searching for the criminals and the motives for the attack are also being investigated. The identities of the victims have not been released.
Police said the group of 12 men arrived at the scene in two vehicles, a Kombi and a sedan. They opened fire on the bar’s patrons and continued shooting randomly as they fled the scene.
South African police have asked witnesses to provide information.
The men were armed with pistols and one of them had an AK-47 rifle, deputy provincial police commissioner Fred Kekana told SABC television. After the shooting, the criminals allegedly searched the victims and took away valuables, including cell phones.
Among the dead was a taxi driver who was outside the bar at the time of the attack.
Bekkersdal is a region characterized by high levels of unemployment and poverty due to the decline of gold mining.
South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, averaging around 60 a day.
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