Three gunmen opened fire on a house party in South Africa late Tuesday, killing 11 people, including a woman believed to be pregnant, and wounding three others, police said Wednesday.
The attack took place in KwaMakhutha township, roughly 30 kilometers south of Durban on the country’s east coast. Police said a group had gathered at the house for a party, with reports indicating around 14 people were present, when the assailants entered and opened fire. Ten victims died at the scene, and an eleventh person died later at a hospital. Authorities did not immediately disclose the condition of the three wounded survivors.
No arrests have been made, and police said they were actively searching for the attackers. Investigators said the gunmen set fire to a vehicle belonging to one of the victims before fleeing, and are examining whether the act was connected to the shooting.
Police said the motive remains unconfirmed, though some individuals at the house were known to authorities in connection with ongoing criminal investigations, details of which were not disclosed to avoid compromising the inquiries. A police statement said a feud between rival groups could not be ruled out.
Thami Ntuli, premier of KwaZulu-Natal province, visited the scene and described the killings as deeply disturbing, citing longstanding problems with drug dealing and illegal firearms in the community.
The attack is the latest in a series of mass shootings to strike South Africa in recent years. In June, multiple gunmen killed 12 people in a poor neighborhood of Johannesburg, and two separate mass shootings in December killed a combined 21 people. South Africa continues to record one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime.
