Birthday party gun massacre: Eight people are shot dead as killers burst into South African home

Gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday at the weekend in a township in South Africa, killing eight and wounding three others, police said Monday.

The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting in the southern port city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth.

He had been celebrating his birthday with friends when two gunmen entered his yard between 5.15 and 5.30pm (local time) on Sunday and started shooting at the guests, police said.

The gunmen ‘randomly shot at guests,’ police said, adding ‘eight people died while three others are still fighting for their lives in hospital. The home owner is among the deceased’. 

Gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday at the weekend in a township in South Africa, killing eight and wounding three others, police said Monday. Pictured: The scene

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The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting in the southern port city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth 

The two gunmen fled after the attack and no arrests have been made, while the motive of the attack is not yet known. 

An investigation has been launched into the attack and police said a manhunt for the perpetrators was underway.

Nomthetheleli Mene, the provincial police chief for the Eastern Cape province, condemned the killings as ‘a blatant disregard for human life’.

‘These victims were killed by criminals, and we will not rest until we find out what happened and who was responsible for (this) callous and cold-blooded attack on these unsuspecting victims,’ said Mene. 

Shootings are common in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest murder rates with around 20,000 people killed every year out of a population of 60 million. 

The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting in the southern port city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth

The country last year saw string of shootings, fuelled by gang violence and alcohol, that killed nearly two dozen at separate bars in working class suburbs in Johannesburg and in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg.

In July, gunmen killed 19 people in random shootings within hours of each other. 

According to campaign group Gun Free South Africa, there are about 3 million guns registered in the country, though there are many more unregistered. 

Police Minister Bheki Cele, the national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, and crime experts were scheduled to visit the scene of the attack later Monday morning.