Up to nine people were killed and 10 others wounded in an attack in the Bekkersdal district outside Johannesburg, police said on Sunday, in the second mass shooting in South Africa this month. Police initially said 10 people were killed, but later lowered the death toll.
“Some of the victims were shot randomly in the streets by unknown gunmen,” a police statement said… We do not have a detailed breakdown of who they are,” Brigadier Brenda Muridili, Gauteng provincial police spokeswoman, told AFP. The injured were taken to hospital, police said.
The shooting happened near a tavern or casual bar in Bekkersdal, an impoverished area near some of South Africa’s major gold mines.
The motive for the attack in Bekkersdal, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the city, was unclear, police told AFP.
Second mass attack in a month
The mass shooting in South Africa on Sunday, December 21 was the second attack in a month.
Earlier, on December 6, gunmen stormed a hostel near the capital Pretoria, killing a dozen people, including a three-year-old child.
Police said the shooting happened at a place where alcohol was sold illegally.
South Africa, home to 63 million people, suffers from high crime rates, including one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
