Unknown gunmen killed 15 people when they opened fire in a tavern full of patrons in the Johannesburg township of Soweto in the early hours of Sunday, police have said.
Armed with rifles and pistols, the killers entered the Orlando East tavern before “shooting randomly at the patrons,” the police said.
The gunmen fled the scene and are on the run, they said, adding that it was not clear how many armed men were involved in the attack at the Mdlalose Tavern in the Orlando area of Soweto near Nelson Mandela’s old home.
“Early investigations suggest that a group of unidentified men walked into the tavern and started shooting at everybody inside the tavern,” Gauteng provincial police commissioner Elias Mawela said.
He added: “The motive for the shooting is not yet known.”
He said the deceased were all men aged between 19 and 35, while nine other patrons are in critical condition at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto.
Mawela said those in hospital included two women aged between 21 and 33 years.
NM/jn/APA