Death toll in the early morning shooting in South Africa has increased to 30, according to Aljazeera news media.
It was gathered that gunmen in a white mini bus entered a bar in the town of Soweto, near Johannesburg in South Africa, between hours of 12 and 1 O’clock early Sunday morning, and started shooting randomly at fun seekers or customers at the bar.
The gunmen in a seperate attack, also killed and injured numbers of people at a bar in Sweetwaters township in the coastal city of Pietermaritzburg on Saturday night.
Police said the carnage took place shortly after midnight, according to police said the group of men entered the Orlando East tavern before “shooting randomly at the patrons”.
Accordingly, police said the group of men entered the Orlando East tavern before “shooting randomly at the patrons”.
The gunmen fled the scene and are now on the run, said police, adding that it wasn’t clear how many were involved in the attack.
‘People died screaming before my eyes – there were bodies everywhere’: Eyewitness describes moment three gunmen armed with rifles and pistols shot 15 people dead instantly in ‘brutal and heartless’ attack at South African bar.
The witness said people screamed and hid under tables amid gunfire.
The witness, who did not want to be named, told News 24: “I was seated at the corner with other people drinking. We had fun until around 10p.m, when our fun was abruptly stopped. I saw a man carrying an AK-47 (assault rifle) opening the glass sliding door”
The gunmen carried out the shooting around 12:30a.m, this morning, according to Gauteng Police Commissioner, Elias Mawela.
Mawela in a press statement released, said the gunmen had been armed with rifles and 9mm pistols when they entered the bar.
South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the two bar shootings.
‘As a nation, we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorize us in this way, regardless of where such incidents may occur.
“As government, citizens and structures of civil society, we must all work together even more closely to improve social and economic conditions in communities, reduce violent crime and stamp out the illicit circulation of firearms”, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement.
📷: A woman weeps and people gather at the scene of an overnight bar shooting in Soweto, South Africa, July 10, 2022.
👉 Two bar shootings, one in a township close to Johannesburg and another in eastern South Africa, left 19 dead, police said on Sunday.
In Soweto, 15 people were killed after as they enjoyed a night out, police said, when assailants drew up in a minibus taxi and began randomly firing at bar patrons.
In the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg, police reported four people were killed and eight wounded during a shootout in a bar after two men fired discriminately at customers.
Police sources said it was too early to say if the assaults were in some way connected but observed their similarity.
In Soweto, Johannesburg’s largest township to the southwest of South Africa’s economic capital, police were called to the scene shortly after midnight.
“When we arrived at the scene, 12 people were dead with gunshot wounds,” local police officer Nonhlanhla Kubheka told AFP.
She added 11 people were taken to hospital. Three died shortly after arrival.
There were no details regarding the assailants.
“Nobody has been arrested. Officers are still on site. They came and shot at people who were having fun,” said Kubheka, commander of the Orlando police station, the Soweto district where the shooting took place. (AP/AFP)
@views exclusive rights: Voice Of America, July 10, 2022.
