South Africa: Several People Shot At Hostel In Atteridgeville, Says Report | world news

The number of people killed in a deadly shooting incident in Pretoria on Saturday has risen to 11, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed. The incident occurred at Saulsville Hostel in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, on Saturday. According to the local media reports, the incident occurred just after 4:15 am, but police were only alerted around 6 am.

“25 shot, 11 confirmed dead, 14 survivors, and all are in the hospital. The South African Police Service has launched a manhunt for three unknown suspects. Three minors are among those deceased which including 3 and 12-year-old boys, a 16-year-old female. The rest of those deceased are adults. The incident happened at an illegal shebeen,” according to IANS, a statement issued by the SAPS. read.

“We immediately mobilized our resources, including forensic and ballistics experts, who were already at the scene. Our detectives and the Serious and Violent Crime Unit are piecing together information on what may have led to this shooting,” the country’s leading media outlet, Independent Online (IOL), quoted SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe as saying.

Citing Mathé’s statement, the IOL reported that at least three unknown gunmen entered the hostel, where a group of people were drinking, and began shooting randomly. The SAPS spokesperson also highlighted the massive challenges being posed by illegal and unlicensed liquor premises.

“Between April and September this year, we shut down 11,975 unlicensed liquor outlets nationwide and arrested more than 18,676 people found selling liquor illegally,” the official was quoted as saying by the IOL.

In a separate incident last month, seven men were killed in a mass shooting in Cape Town, Western Cape Province of South Africa. The incident occurred on Road R53 in Philippi East, a suburb in Cape Town’s Cape Flats area, where seven men aged between 20 and 30 were fatally shot in what authorities described as a “senseless act of violence.”

According to IANS, after Jo’burg, Cape Town has also seen a surge in gun violence and gang-related killings in recent months, prompting warnings from civil society that the Western Cape Province, of which Cape Town is the capital city, is facing a full-blown crisis.

(with IANS inputs)