Manhunt after 17 killed in double mass shooting in South Africa

The shooting victims, including 15 women, were killed while attending a family gathering near the town of Lusikisiki in a rural area of Eastern Cape province. South Africa, a country of 62 million, recorded 12,734 homicides in the first six months of this year, according to official crime statistics from the police.

Seventeen people, including 15 women, were killed in two mass shootings that took place in close proximity to each other in a rural town in South Africa, police said Saturday.

A search was underway for the suspects, national police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe said in a statement. The victims were 15 women and two men, she said. One other person was in critical condition in the hospital.

The shootings took place Friday night in the town of Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape province in southeastern South Africa. Video released by police showed that the shootings occurred at two houses in the same neighborhood, which is a collection of rural homesteads on the outskirts of the town.

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 apprehend those behind these heinous killings,” 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.

(AP)

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