At least 17 people were reportedly found dead on Sunday inside a nightclub in a neighbourhood of East London, a city in southern South Africa. Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana, a spokesman for the Eastern Cape Authorities, said that because it is unknown how many people were at the Enyobeni Tavern before the incident, police do not know if there are any survivors.
“We got a report that about 17 people died in a local tavern in Scenery Park which is based in East London. We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident,” said Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana.
Scenery Park is roughly three kilometres from the city centre. Unverified social media images showed victims scattered across the club floor with no evident indications of injury. Eyewitnesses told the Daily Dispatch newspaper that bodies were lying inside the venue as if they had collapsed on the floor.
A resident of the Eastern Cape shared details about the incident on Facebook. Khudani Keith Munyai took to Facebook and wrote, “22 young school kids who apparently were celebrating for pens down were found dead at Enyobeni Tavern in Scenary Park, East London this morning. Apparently, the owner wanted to close but they couldn’t go. Then it’s said he sprayed something to kick them out. Unfortunately, it killed all of them.”
Residents have reportedly called for the venue to be closed since relatives of the victims have reportedly been unable to see their bodies. In the city, which is situated on the Indian Ocean coast around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) south of Johannesburg, a sizable number of emergency personnel are present.
This is a developing story and no further details are available on it. The report will be updated once the details are more clear.