The bodies of 17 young men were found dead without apparent injuries at an informal nightclub in a village in East London, South Africa on Sunday, local police said, investigating the cause of the mass death. Four other youths who were at the facility later died in hospital, according to local authorities. The previous report put the death toll at 20.
Crowds of people, including parents whose children are missing, gathered outside a bar in a residential area as morgue vehicles took away the victims, an AFP reporter said.
Senior government officials quickly rushed to the scene, including National Police Minister Bheki Cele, who wept as she left the morgue where the bodies were laid out. “It’s a horrible sight to behold.”– he told the journalists. “They are quite young. When they tell you they’re 13, 14, and you go there (the morgue) and see them. breaks down”. The victims are thirteen boys and eight girls.
The circumstances are unknown
At the morgue, a couple who lost their 17-year-old daughter confides in their grief. “Our son was there, he died there. We did not think that this child would die like this, he was a humble, respectful child.said his mother, Ntombizonke Mgangala, standing next to her husband.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is in Germany to attend the G7 summit, offered his condolences to the families of the victims. He said he was concerned “The circumstances in which these young people gathered in a place that at first sight should not have been accessible to minors.”.
“It’s incredible, it’s incomprehensible to lose twenty young people in this way”left in shock the head of the government of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane, who came to the scene of the tragedy in the morning, a simple building surrounded by individual houses.
Empty liquor bottles, wigs and even a pastel purple ribbon that says “Happy birthday” The dusty street outside the two-story Enyobeni tavern is littered, according to Unati Binkoze, a government security officer who arrived at the scene at dawn. The victims were found early in the morning.
“We are continuing to investigate the circumstances of this death.”State police spokesman General Tembinkosi Kinana said only to AFP, declining to speculate on the cause of their deaths. Provincial health services official Unati Binkose ruled out a stampede or crowd movement.
No signs of injury
The victims, he said, were probably students celebrating the end of exams and the academic year. According to the local newspaper DispatchLive:, “Dead bodies are scattered on tables, chairs and the ground”without “There are no obvious signs of injury.” On social networks, some mentioned the possibility of gas or collective poisoning. Unconfirmed footage showed bodies lying on the ground with no signs of injuries.
Many informal drinking establishments, nicknamed ‘shebeens’ or ‘taverns’, are or are permitted in the townships of South Africa’s major cities, these disadvantaged neighborhoods once reserved for non-whites until the end of apartheid. However, legal drinking age regulations are not always enforced.
Authorities are now considering overhauling liquor licensing regulations in a country that is one of the continent’s biggest alcohol consumers.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.