5 arrested in connection with mass shooting in South Africa

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - Police in South Africa said Thursday they have arrested five people in connection with a mass shooting that left six people dead and four wounded in the Eastern Cape province.

Police spokesperson, Col. Priscilla Naidu, said the suspects aged 21-31 years have been detained and will soon appear in court to face charges of murder and attempted murder.

On Tuesday night, gunmen entered a yard on a property in the township of KwaNobuhle near the town of Kariega and started shooting at people there, police said in a statement.

Five men and one woman died as a result, while three men and a woman were wounded.

Mass shootings have become more frequent in South Africa, a country with one of the highest cases of murder in the world.

At least 70 people were murdered on average every day from April to June 2022, according to national crime statistics.

Last year in July, 14 people were killed at a bar in the township of Soweto near Johannesburg. Police said the attackers used high-caliber firearms and sprayed bullets randomly.