Mass shooting at a South African bar leaves 11 dead, including 3 children

"The shooting happened at a bar inside a hostel in the Saulsville township west of the administrative capital of Pretoria in the early hours of Saturday. Ten of the victims died at the scene and the 11th died at the hospital, police said. The children killed were a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Police said they were searching for three male suspects."

"We are told that at least three unknown gunmen entered this hostel where a group of people were drinking and they started randomly shooting, police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe told national broadcaster SABC. She said the motive for the killings was not clear. The shootings happened at around 4.15 a.m., she said, but police were only alerted at 6 a.m."

"South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides. The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, authorities say."

Multiple suspects carried out a mass shooting at an unlicensed bar inside a hostel in the Saulsville township west of Pretoria, killing at least eleven people and wounding 14 others. Three of the dead were children aged three, twelve and sixteen. Ten victims died at the scene and another died after being taken to hospital. Police reported that they were searching for three male suspects and said the motive was unclear. The shootings occurred in the early hours, around 4:15 a.m., with authorities only alerted roughly two hours later. South Africa records high homicide rates and many killings involve illegal firearms, and police have closed more than 11,000 illegal taverns.

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