Gunmen kill at least 12 people including three-year-old in hostel in South Africa

Original article by Oliver Holmes

Gunmen have stormed into a hostel in South Africa’s capital and killed at least 12 people, including a three-year-old child, and injured more than a dozen others.

Police said they had launched a “manhunt” for three people and were investigating whether the killings were linked to a bar within the hostel that may have been selling alcohol illegally.

The attack is the latest in a series of mass shootings in the country of 63 million people, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

“I can confirm that a total of 25 people were shot,” said a police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, of the early morning attack in Saulsville township, 11 miles (18km) west of Pretoria. She said the armed men had shot indiscriminately.

Ten had died at the scene while two died in hospital, she said. The twelfth victim succumbed to injuries on Saturday afternoon.

The victims included a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.

South African police have been grappling with violence linked to illegal bars, known as shebeens, which often sell home-brewed drinks. With high levels of gun ownership in the country, shootings linked to organised crime are common and police say they are often fuelled by alcohol.

“These illegal shebeens are really giving us a problem as the police,” Mathe told the 24-hour eNCA news broadcaster. “Because a lot of murders are being reported at these illegal establishments.”

Forensic and ballistic experts and investigators were at the scene. “So we are on a manhunt. For now, we are looking for three suspects,” Mathe said.

Between April and September, more than 60 people were killed each day in South Africa, according to police data.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report