Law enforcement officials in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, are investigating the circumstances that led to a tavern mass shooting reported on Saturday evening.
Pietermaritzburg tavern mass shooting: Here’s what we know
Details around the incident are still murky at this stage of reporting. However, from what we understand this early on in the investigation, distress calls rung off in a Pietermaritzburg township shortly after 20:30 on Saturday evening, where partygoers had been targeted in a tavern shooting.
As reported by eNCA, law enforcement authorities are in search of two men who were seen pulling up to the tavern in a Volkswagen Polo around the time of the shooting.
It’s believed the armed men got out of the car, entered the popular hangout spot and started shooting at random, striking at least 12 partygoers. Two of the victims died at the scene, and 10 others were rushed to a nearby hospital for life-saving treatment.
However, moments later, the Pietermaritzburg tavern mass shooting death toll rose to four when two victims died in hospital.
Eight survivors of the horrific attack are still in hospital and considered to be in serious condition.
At this juncture, it’s believed the suspects involved in the tavern mass shooting are still at large and considered highly dangerous.
This is a developing story.
South African police are clutching at straws to contain high levels of violence in the country. In East London, the deaths of 21 underage partygoers, who mysteriously lost their lives inside Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park, are still the subject of a highly scrutinised investigation.
In the wee hours of Sunday, at Mdlalose tavern in Soweto, 24 partygoers were gunned down at random by an unknown number of shooters.
The incident, Gauteng top-cop Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela confirmed, took place around 00:30, and as things stand, the death toll in the mass shooting has risen to 14.