17 people lost their lives in two mass shootings in the same town in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG – 17 people, including 15 women, were killed in two mass shootings in close proximity to each other in a rural South African town, police said on Saturday.

A search for the suspects has begun, national police spokesman Brig. Athlenda Mathe said in a statement. 15 of the victims were women and 2 were men. One person in the hospital was in critical condition.

The shootings took place on Friday night in the town of Lusikisiki in South Africa’s southeastern Eastern Cape province. In the video released by the police, it is seen that the shootings took place in two houses in the same neighborhood of rural houses on the outskirts of the town.

Police said 12 women and one man were killed in one house, and three women and one man were killed in the other house.

Four women, a man and a 2-month-old baby survived.

“A manhunt has been launched to catch those behind these heinous murders,” Mathe said.

According to local media reports, it was stated that the people attended a family meeting at the time of the shooting, but the reason for the murders was unknown.

Police minister Senzo Mchunu told a press conference on Saturday that a team of detectives and forensic experts had been deployed.

“We have full faith and trust in the team assigned to solve this case and find these criminals. Either they surrender themselves or we bring them ourselves,” Mchunu said.

South Africa, a country of 62 million people, recorded 12,734 murders in the first six months of this year, according to official police crime statistics. This is an average of over 70 per day. Firearms are the biggest cause of death in these cases.

Mass shootings have become increasingly common in recent years; sometimes targets people in their homes

10 members of the same family, including 7 women and a 13-year-old boy, killed in mass shooting at their home in the neighboring province of KwaZulu-Natal in April 2023.

Firearm laws are quite strict in South Africa, but authorities often point out the large number of illegal, unregistered guns in circulation as a major problem.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa