Ten members of the same family, seven of them women and at least one of them a child, have been killed today in a mass shooting at a house in South Africa, police said.
The family was ambushed by a group of gunmen and shot dead at their home overnight in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, police said.
A male suspect was killed in a shootout with police hours after and two men were arrested. A fourth suspect escaped but his identity is known and he is being sought, Police Minister Bheki Cele said.
Firearms believed to have been used by the suspects have been seized by the police, who are yet to provide a motive for the shooting.
‘It’s a crime scene, terrible. Too many people were lost here,’ Police Minister Bheki Cele said in comments broadcast on public broadcaster SABC from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal province.
Ten members of the same family, seven of them women, have been killed in a mass shooting at a house in South Africa , police said. Pictured: A body is moved at the scene of a deadly mass shooting is seen, near Pietermaritzburg, on Friday
A family member is consoled at the scene of a deadly mass shooting where 10 of her relatives were shot dead
Police investigate the scene where an suspected gunman was shot by the police
Police said two suspects (pictured) have been arrested over the shooting, which occurred in the early hours of this morning
Officers were called to the scene this morning following reports of gunfire and discovered the ten family members shot dead.
‘When they attended to the scene, they found 10 members of one family were shot and fatally wounded in one of the homes,’ police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said.
At the scene, emergency services personnel were seen loading the bodies of the victims into a mortuary van.
Police initially announced that the victims were seven women and three men but Police Minister Cele said at least one child, a 13-year-old, was among the dead. The oldest victim of the mass shooting was 65. He didn’t confirm the gender of the teenager who was killed and gave no other details on the ages of the other victims.
Cele, who was at the scene, also said police confronted four men on a street about a mile from the house where the mass shooting occurred and the men shot at officers.
‘Police shot back, killed one, injured one, who is arrested, and one is arrested uninjured. One has run away,’ Cele said. ‘Fortunately they know who ran away.’
The suspect who was killed was ‘notorious’ and linked to other crimes in the area, Cele said, although he didn’t offer a motive for the mass shooting.
Police were also questioning the driver of an e-hailing taxi who is believed to have previously transported the suspects when they were suspected of committing other crimes.
Ten members of the same family, seven of them women, have been killed in a mass shooting at a house in South Africa , police said. PIctured: The scene of the shooting
A body of one of the victims is seen on a banking next to the family’s home
The family were ambushed by a group of gunmen and shot dead at their home in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, police said
Firearms believed to have been used by the suspects have been seized by officers, who are yet to provide a motive for the shooting
Neighbours look at police and medics working at the scene of the shooting in Pietermaritzburg
The massacre marks the second mass shooting in KwaZulu-Natal this week after four people were shot dead in a home in the city of Durban on Thursday.
Shootings are common in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest murder rates with around 20,000 people killed every year out of a population of 60 million.
The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting.
He had been celebrating his birthday with friends when two gunmen entered his yard and started shooting at the guests.
The brutal attack saw the killers ‘repeatedly’ fire at people as they lay dead on the floor, according to one eyewitness.
Firearms believed to have been used by the suspects have been seized by officers, who are yet to provide a motive for the shooting. Pictured: The scene
Many bar patrons hid under tables and were forced to scramble over dead bodies in order to escape.
A witness, who did not want to be named, told News 24 at the time: ‘I was seated at the corner with other people drinking. We had fun until around 10pm, when our fun was abruptly stopped. I saw a man carrying an AK-47 (assault rifle) opening the glass sliding door.
‘He didn’t say anything and started opening fire. My friend and others at the pool table scattered for cover. He sprayed them with bullets.
‘I saw them falling to the ground. It was pandemonium. I hid under a table. Four dead people were lying near me. Their blood spilt on me. After the man with an assault rifle was done. Two others carrying 9mm pistols joined and repeatedly fired at people on the floor.’
‘People died in front of me. Some were screaming in pain. Alcohol was scattered. After killing people, including my friend, the gunmen slowly walked away.’
The shocking mass murder in the tavern in Soweto, Johannesburg, followed another bar shooting just hours earlier in Pietermaritzburg, which claimed the lives of four people.
According to campaign group Gun Free South Africa, there are about 3 million guns registered in the country, though there are many more unregistered.
