At least nine people have died and at least 10 others were wounded after a group of gunmen carried out a shooting at a South African pub during the early hours of Sunday, authorities said.
The motives for the crime, which took place in a bar and then outside on a street in Bikersdale, 40 kilometers from South Africa’s economic capital, are still unknown.
The police stated in a release, after revising the toll from ten to nine dead, that “some of the victims were randomly killed in the street by armed men whose identities are still unknown.”
A police spokesperson said that the authorities do not yet have “detailed information” about the identity of the shooters.
Security forces have launched an operation to search for the attackers.
South Africa struggles with widespread crime and corruption led by organized crime networks.
Many citizens own licensed firearms for personal protection, but there are also many illegal weapons circulating.
On December 6th, armed men attacked a workers’ house in Pretoria, killing 11 people, including a 3-year-old child, according to the police. The house also contained a bar.
Gun violence claimed about 63 lives per day from April to September, according to police data, in a country with a population of 63 million people.
