Cape Town: At least 27 people were shot dead in South Africa in two incidents of mass shooting, which took place in the space of a few hours, police said on Sunday.
The first massacre occurred late Saturday night near Johannesburg, and the second one in the early hours of Sunday near Cape Town.
The South African Police Service said 17 people were killed Saturday night when
Eight gunmen with AK-47 rifles and pistols opened fire at a bar in Wedela township, southwest of South Africa’s biggest city Johannesburg, around 10 pm (1.30 am IST).
The suspects shot at patrons outside the bar, then moved inside to continue the killing. Among the victims were 13 men and four women. At least 15 others sustained gunshot injuries, according to police.
The assailants took mobile phones from some of the patrons before escaping in two vehicles.
Around five hours later, 10 people were killed and 11 wounded in a mass shooting at a store in Lwandle township near Cape Town, South Africa’s second-biggest city.
Police are searching for multiple suspects, not sure how many of them had come.
Four days ago, 11 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an attack by multiple gunmen at a house party in KwaMakhutha township south of Durban.
Even for a country which has struggled with high rates of violent crime for years, the series of latest mass shootings has shocked South Africa.
There were 5,427 homicides in South Africa during the three-month period between April and June at an average of nearly 60 homicides a day, according to official statistics.