Jakarta –
Terrifying! Gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday in a small town in south Africa. Local police said that eight people were killed and three others injured in the horror incident.
Reported by the news agency AFPMonday (30/1/2023), a birthday person was among those who were shot dead in mass shooting on Sunday (29/1) evening local time in the port city of Gqeberha, previously named Port Elizabeth.
“The owner of the house was celebrating his birthday when two unidentified gunmen entered the grounds on Sunday evening and started shooting at the guests,” police said in a statement.
The gunmen “shot at guests at random,” police said. “Eight people died while three others are still fighting for their lives in hospital. The owner of the house is among the dead,” police said in a statement.
The motive for the attack is not yet known.
Nomthetheleli Mene, provincial police chief for the Eastern Cape province, condemned the killings as “blatant disregard for the human spirit”.
An investigation has been launched into the attack and police say a hunt for the perpetrators is underway.
Shooting incidents are common in South Africa, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, fueled by gang violence and alcohol.
South Africa last year saw a series of shootings that killed nearly two dozen people in separate bars in working-class suburbs of Johannesburg and in the city of Pietermaritzburg.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola and criminal experts are scheduled to visit the site of the attack on Monday morning local time.
(it/it)
