Seventeen people killed in two mass shootings in same South African town

Seventeen people were killed in two mass shootings that took place in close proximity to each other on Friday night in a rural town in South Africa.A search was underway for the suspects, national police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe said in a statement on Saturday.

She said 15 women and two men were among the victims, while one other person was in critical condition in hospital. The shootings took place in the town of Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape province in southeastern South Africa.

Video released by police showed that the shootings occurred at two houses in the same neighbourhood, which is a collection of rural homesteads on the outskirts of the town.

In one house, 12 women and a man were killed, while three women and a man were killed in another house, according to police. Four women, one man and a two-month-old baby survived.“A manhunt has been launched to apprehend those behind these heinous killings,” Mathe said.Local media reported that the people were attending a family gathering at the time of the shooting, but the motive for the killings remains unknown.Police minister Senzo Mchunu told a media briefing on Saturday that a team of detectives and forensic experts had been deployed.“We have full faith and confidence in the team that has been deployed to crack this case and find these criminals. Either they hand themselves over or we will fetch them ourselves,” Mchunu said.

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

South Africa, a country of 62 million people, recorded 12,734 homicides in the first six months of this year, according to official crime statistics from the police. That’s an average of more than 70 per day. Firearms are by far the biggest cause of deaths in those cases.Mass shootings have become increasingly common in recent years, sometimes targeting people in their homesTen members of the same family, including seven women and a 13-year-old boy, were killed in a mass shooting at their home in the neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province in April 2023.Firearm laws are reasonably strict in South Africa, but authorities have often pointed to the large number of illegal, unregistered guns in circulation as a major problem.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...