No fewer than nine people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a bar outside Johannesburg early Sunday, police said, in the second such shooting in South Africa this month.
Ten additional people were injured in the early morning attack on the tavern in the impoverished Bekkersdal township, located in a gold mining district some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the city.
The shooting at a bar outside Pretoria on December 6 killed 12 people, including a three-year-old kid.
Police first stated that 10 people were killed when the Bekkersdal tavern was attacked shortly before 1:00 a.m. (2300 GMT), but later reduced the figure downward.
The majority of the attackers were equipped with pistols, with one carrying an AK-47 rifle, Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner Major General Fred Kekana told SABC television from the site.
“They entered the tavern and randomly shot at the patrons, unprovoked,” he told me.
Three individuals were killed inside the pub, and others fled as the gunmen continued to shoot, he added.
“It’s also reported that after they shot the people, they searched them. They took their valuables, including cell phones,” Kekana said.
Those killed included a driver from an online car-hailing service who was driving past.
“It’s pure criminality,” Kekana said. Police launched a manhunt for the attackers and appealed for public assistance.
