▲ Emergency responders are deployed following a shooting that took place the previous night in the Wedela township, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 27, local time.
A series of overnight shootings in South Africa has left at least 27 people dead and 26 others injured.
According to foreign media outlets including the AP, AFP, and Reuters on September 27, local time, local police reported that eight armed assailants opened fire at a tavern in the Wedela township, located about 80 kilometers southwest of South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, at around 9:30 p.m. the previous day, killing 17 people and injuring 15 others.
The Wedela township is a settlement that was historically established as a residential area for people of color during the apartheid era.
Armed with AK-47s and handguns, the suspects reportedly fired at patrons both inside and outside the tavern before taking mobile phones and fleeing in two separate vehicles.
About four hours later, at around 1:46 a.m. on September 27, armed assailants broke into a shop in the Rwandlu township on the outskirts of Cape Town in the southwest, opening fire on customers and leaving 10 dead and 11 injured.
Police stated that they are pursuing suspects in both cases and that no arrests have been made yet.
South Africa has seen a succession of recent shooting incidents.
On September 22, three armed assailants forced their way into a house where a party was being held in the Kwamakutha township, south of the eastern coastal city of Durban, and opened fire, killing 11 people—including a woman believed to be pregnant—and injuring three others.
High rates of violent crime, including murder and robbery, have emerged as a serious social issue in South Africa.
According to South African police statistics, a total of 5,427 murders were committed across the country over a three-month period from April to June this year.
This translates to an average of about 60 people killed per day.
In Ekurhuleni, adjacent to Johannesburg, 10 women have been found dead near roadsides and other locations over the past two months or so, prompting authorities to investigate whether the cases are linked to a serial killer.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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