Seventeen people were killed in two mass shootings that took place near each other in a rural town in South Africa, police said on Saturday.
A search was underway for the suspects, says National Police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe said in a statement. The victims were 15 women and two men, she said. Another person was in critical condition at the hospital.
The shootings took place on Friday evening in the town of Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape province in south-eastern South Africa. Video released by police showed the shootings happened at two houses in the same neighborhood, which is a collection of rural homesteads on the outskirts of the city.
Twelve women and a man were killed in one house and three women and a man were killed in the other house, police said.
Four women, one man and a 2-month-old baby survived.
“A manhunt has been launched to arrest those behind these heinous murders,” Mathe said.
Local media reported that the people were attending a family gathering at the time of the shooting, but the motive for the killings remains unknown.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told a press conference on Saturday that a team of detectives and forensic experts had been deployed.
“We have full faith and trust in the team that has been deployed to crack this case and find these criminals. Either they turn themselves in or we pick them up ourselves,” Mchunu said.
South Africa, a country of 62 million, recorded 12,734 murders in the first six months of this year, according to official police crime statistics. That’s an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the biggest cause of death in these cases.
Firearms laws are reasonably strict in South Africa, but authorities have often pointed to the large number of illegal, unregistered guns in circulation as a major problem.
Mass shootings have become increasingly common in recent years, sometimes targeting people in their homes.
Last year, seven women and three men – all from the same family – was fatally shot outside the South African city of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, police said. The youngest victim was a 13-year-old boy.