JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Ten members of the same family, seven of them women, were killed in a mass shooting at a home in South Africa, police said Friday.

According to initial reports, unknown gunmen ambushed them at their home in the town of Pietermaritzburg, in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, police said. The shooting happened Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Police Minister Bheki Cele was due to visit the site on Friday.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and there have been a spate of mass shootings in recent years.

Eight people were fatally shot at a birthday party in the south coast town of Gqeberha in January. Last year, 16 people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in Johannesburg’s Soweto township when a group of gunmen, some of them armed with rifles, opened fire on patrons.

___

More news from AP Africa:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *