GUNMEN opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday over the weekend in a township in South Africa, killing eight and wounding three others, police said Monday.
The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting in the southern port city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth.
“The owner of the house was celebrating his birthday when two unknown gunmen entered the yard” on Sunday evening “and started shooting at the guests,” police said in a statement.
The gunmen “randomly shot at guests,” police said, adding “eight people died while three others are still fighting for their lives in hospital. The homeowner is among the deceased”.
The motive of the attack is yet unknown.
Nomthetheleli Mene, the provincial police chief for the Eastern Cape province, condemned the killings as “a blatant disregard for human life”.
An investigation has been launched into the attack and police said a manhunt for the perpetrators was underway.
South Africa last year saw a string of shootings that killed nearly two dozen at separate bars in working-class suburbs in Johannesburg and the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg.
(AFP)
