JOHANNESBURG: Gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday over the weekend in a South African township, killing eight people and injuring three, police said on Monday.
A birthday celebrant was also among those who were shot dead. Mass shooting In the southern port city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth.
“The owner of the house was celebrating his birthday when on Sunday evening” two unidentified gunmen entered the yard and opened fire on the guests, police said in a statement.
gave The gunman “Guests were fired upon randomly,” police said, adding, “Eight persons died while three others are still fighting for their lives in the hospital. The dead include the owner of the house”.
The reason for the attack is not yet known.
The Eastern Cape provincial police chief, Nomthili Mayne, condemned the killings as a “flagrant disregard for human life”.
An investigation into the attack has been launched and police say the search for the attackers is on.
Shootings Common in South Africa, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, gang violence and alcohol-fueled murders are common.
South Africa last year saw a spate of shootings in separate bars in the working-class suburbs of Johannesburg and the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg that killed nearly two dozen people.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, National Police Commissioner Fanny Masimola, and crime experts were due to visit the scene of the attack later on Monday morning.