South Africa: 20 dead of unknown cause found in a nightclub

At least 20 young people were found dead in a night bar in a mostly black slum in the city South African from East London (south), a provincial security official said on Sunday.

“The number went up to 20, three have died in hospital. But there are still two who are in critical condition,” the head of the provincial security department Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe told local television.

A first balance provided by the chief of the provincial police Thembinkosi Kinana reported 17 dead in the incident that occurred in a night bar in Scenery Parkwhich is in East London.

“We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident”Kinana added.

The police chief stated that the victims were between 18 and 20 years old.

An official from the Department of Security and Community of the Eastern Cape province, Unathi Binqose, ruled out the possibility of a stampede as the cause of the deaths.

“It’s hard to believe it’s a stampede since no visible signs of wounds on the dead”Binqose told AFP, contacted by phone from the scene.

A local regional newspaper DispatchLive reported “Bodies that lie scattered on tables, chairs and on the floor, with no obvious signs of injury.” Photos shared on social networks, and whose authenticity could not be verified, showed bodies without visible signs of injuries scattered on the ground at the scene.

Local television broadcast images of police officers trying to calm a crowd gathered outside the bar. in this city on the shores of the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers south of Johannesburg.

“Parents whose children did not sleep at home are here and want to enter the club to look for their loved ones”Binqose said.

The person in charge stated that in his opinion the clients were students “who They held a party after the written exams.”