20 people die in S African pub, cause unclear

GBNews24 Desk//

At least 20 young people have died at a township pub in South Africa’s southern city of East London, but the cause of the deaths is still unclear.

Senior officials from the provincial government rushed to the scene, where at least six mortuary vehicles were lined up in the residential street waiting to collect the bodies, according to an AFP correspondent.

Drinking is permitted in South African township pubs, commonly known as taverns or shebeens which are sometimes located in family homes, where safety regulations are rarely enforced.

“The number has increased to 20, three have died in hospital. But there are still two who are very critical,” the head of the provincial government safety department Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said on local TV.

A visibly shocked head of the Eastern Cape Province Oscar Mabuyane spoke from outside the scene, a building surrounded by houses in an area called Scenery Park. “It’s absolutely unbelievable, we can’t understand it, losing 20 young lives just like that,” he told reporters.