A series of shootings overnight in South Africa... At least 27 dead, 26 injured

(Johannesburg = Yonhap News) Correspondent Na Confirmed = A series of shooting incidents occurred overnight in South Africa, leaving at least 27 people dead and 26 injured.

According to AP, AFP, and Reuters on the 27th (local time), at around 9:30 p.m. the previous day, eight gunmen opened fire at a bar in Wedela Township, about 80km southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, killing 17 people and injuring 15, local police said.

Wedela Township is a village created as a residential area for colored people during the apartheid era.

The suspects, armed with AK-47s and handguns, reportedly shot at customers inside and outside the bar, took cell phones, etc. and then fled in two vehicles.

About four hours later, at around 1:46 a.m. on the 27th, an armed man broke into a store in Rwandle Township, southwestern Cape Town, and opened fire on customers, killing 10 people and injuring 11 others.

Police said they are looking for suspects in both cases and that no suspects have yet been arrested.

There have been a series of shooting incidents recently in South Africa.

On the 22nd, three armed men broke into a house where a party was being held in Kwamakuta Township, south of the eastern coastal city of Durban, and opened fire, killing 11 people, including a woman believed to be a pregnant woman, and injuring three others.

In South Africa, the high rate of violent crimes such as murder and robbery is being raised as a serious social problem.

According to South African police statistics, a total of 5,427 murders occurred in South Africa during the three months from April to June this year. It was calculated that an average of 60 people were murdered per day.

In Ekuruleni, adjacent to Johannesburg, 10 women were found dead near the road in the past two months, and authorities are investigating whether it was a serial murder.