18 people have died in a mass shooting in a remote town in South Africa as a search is underway for the perpetrators, police said.
Two houses on the same road in the town of Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, were targeted, police said, killing 12 women and one man in one place, and three women and one man in the second place.
The 18th victim died in hospital on Sunday, the South African police said.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said the cause of the shooting was not yet known.
In a statement on Sunday, the police said that apart from the death of the 18th person, there were no other new developments. No one has been arrested so far.
Officials say the dead are relatives and neighbors in Nyathi village, Ngobozana in Lusikisiki.
South African media reported that the victims had gathered in their homes to prepare to go to a mourning ceremony for a mother and daughter who were killed last year.
They were packing goods and gifts, including furniture, for a party when they were attacked on Friday night, according to media reports.
“We heard gunshots and doors being kicked,” said Nomnikelo Ndlovu, one of the residents who managed to hide when they were attacked, told the SABC broadcaster.
“We tried to hide and three people were shot. We are still traumatized.”
In a statement on Saturday, the police minister said that a total of 19 people were sleeping in two houses in one yard of one of the areas where the shooting took place.
Mchunu added that there are six survivors in the house – four women, a man and a two-month-old baby. The police spokesperson previously said that the child was not injured but was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
There were no survivors in the other house.
Mchunu said a team of detectives and intelligence experts, including Pretoria’s crime scene managers, had been assigned “to put an end to everything.” [the] evidence together for the purpose of arresting these brutal criminals”.
The regional cabinet member responsible for public security, Xolile Nqatha, told the SABC that she hopes that the seriously injured man will recover quickly, because his recovery can help us to shed more light on this incident.
He also pointed out that the attackers may be known to the victims.
South Africa is one of the top homicide countries in the world, according to the latest figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
There were more than 27,000 homicides in 2022 – an estimated 45 out of 100,000 people, out of nearly 60 million people. By comparison, the US rate is six in 100,000.
Additional reporting by Aleks Phillips
More on crime in South Africa: