Nine killed, 10 wounded in South African pub shooting
The shooting happened just before 1am local time in Johannesburg's Bekkersdal township. (AP: Alfonso Nqunjana)
In short:
Police say nine people are dead and 10 are injured after a shooting by a group of gunmen at a South African pub.
It is the second mass shooting to happen in South Africa in three weeks.
Police have launched a manhunt for the gunmen.
Nine people are dead and at least 10 others wounded after a group of gunmen carried out a shooting at a South African pub during the early hours of Sunday.
The incident occurred just before 1am in the township of Bekkersdal which is located 46 kilometres west of Johannesburg.
It is the second mass shooting to happen in South Africa in three weeks.
About 12 unknown suspects in a white mini-bus and a silver sedan opened fire at pub patrons at KwaNoxolo tavern, in the Tambo section of Bekkersdal and continued to shoot randomly as they fled the scene, according to police.
"Some victims were randomly shot in the streets by unknown gunmen," the police said.
Police say the dead included a driver from an online car-hailing service who was driving past.
A manhunt for the suspects in the multiple gunshot event has been initiated by Gauteng Serious and Violent Crime Investigations in collaboration with the Crime Detection Tracing Unit.
A heavy police presence at the scene of the shooting. (AP: Alfonso Nqunjana)
There have been several mass shootings at bars — sometimes called shebeens or taverns in South Africa — in recent years, including a mass shooting carried out by multiple suspects in an unlicensed bar near the South African capital that left at least 12 people dead and 13 injured earlier this month.
Another shooting killed 16 people in the Johannesburg township of Soweto in 2022. On the same day, four people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in another province.
With almost 26,000 homicides in 2024, or more than 70 per day on average, South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
Although the nation of 62 million has comparatively stringent gun control laws, officials say many murders are carried out using illegal firearms.
AP