Ten family members were killed in a mass shooting after a dispute with neighbors

Ten members of the same family, seven of them women and one of them a child, died today in a mass shooting at a house in South Africa, the police said.

The family was ambushed and shot dead in their home at night in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Five others survived the attack, including an eight-year-old who was shot in the leg.

A male suspect was killed hours later in a shootout with the police and two men were arrested. A fourth suspect escaped, but his identity was known and he was being sought, Police Minister Bheki Cele said.

The police seized firearms believed to have been used by the suspects, who have not yet confirmed the motive for the shooting.

But Siyabonga Mndebele, a woman said to be a close friend of the victims’ family, spoke outside the scene and told reporters the family had strained ties with another local family over another incident.

A family member is comforted at the scene of a fatal shooting that left 10 of her family members dead

Police are investigating the scene where a suspected gunman was shot dead by police

Police said two suspects (pictured) have been arrested in connection with the shooting, which happened in the early hours of the morning

Mndebele told local media that today’s deadly attack came after family patriarch Themba Memela, who happened to witness another attack, was shot dead last year.

She told reporters that Memela was shot dead in November. He reportedly witnessed an attack that left another family member paralyzed after he was accused of theft.

“When the person who opened the gate for them turned around, a bullet grazed his head,” Mndebele told the media, reports South Africa’s Times Live. She then said that armed men broke into the house.

Officers had previously been called to the scene after reports of gunfire and found the ten family members shot.

“When they arrived at the scene, they found that ten members of a family had been shot and fatally wounded in one of the houses,” said Brigadier General Jay Naicker, police spokesman.

At the scene, rescuers were seen loading the bodies of the victims into a hearse.

South Africa’s Times Live reported the names of the deceased: Phumlani Memela (28), Nompilo Mthembu Mthiyane (21), Andiswa Nana Ngcobo (15), Beatrice Memela (63), Brenda Memela (38), Fikile Hlabisa (53 ), Nomfundo Mehela, Mehelela, Mehela , 18, Siphesihle Memela, 17, and Sabelo Mhlonyana, 15.

“It’s a crime scene, horrible. Too many people are lost here,” said Bheki Cele, minister of police, in comments broadcast by public broadcaster SAUK from Pietermaritzburg in the KwaZulu-Natal province.

PPolice Minister Cele, who was at the scene, also said that the police confronted four men in a street about a kilometer from the house where the mass shooting took place and the men opened fire on officers.

“The police returned fire and killed one, arrested one and arrested one unharmed. One ran away,” said Cele. “Fortunately, they know who ran away.”

Ten family members, including seven women, were killed in a mass shooting at a home in South Africa, police said. In the photo: the scene of the shooting

The body of one of the victims can be seen on a bench next to the family home

The family was ambushed and shot dead by a group of armed men at their home in the town of Pietermaritzburg in eastern KwaZulu-Natal, police said.

Firearms believed to have been used by the suspects were seized by officers, who are yet to provide a motive for the shooting.

Neighbors watch as police officers and paramedics work at the crime scene in Pietermaritzburg

The slain suspect was “notorious” and linked to other crimes in the area, Cele said, although he did not give a motive for the mass shooting.

The police also questioned the driver of an e-mail taxi, who is believed to have previously transported the suspects when they were suspected of having committed other crimes.

The massacre is the second mass shooting this week in KwaZulu-Natal after four people were shot dead at a house in the city of Durban on Thursday.

Shootings are common in South Africa, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with around 20,000 deaths a year in a population of 60 million.

In January, gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday in the southern port city of Gqeberha, killing eight and injuring three.

The birthday party was among those shot in the mass shooting.

He was celebrating his birthday with friends when two armed men entered his garden and started shooting at the guests.

Last July, 16 people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in Johannesburg’s Soweto township when a group of armed men armed with automatic rifles and high-powered handguns opened fire on patrons.

During the brutal attack, according to an eyewitness, the killers “repeatedly” shot at people who were lying dead on the ground.

Firearms believed to have been used by the suspects were seized by officers who have not yet given a motive for the shooting. In the photo: the scene

Many bar patrons hid under tables and had to climb over corpses to escape.

A witness, who asked not to be named, told News 24 at the time: “I was sitting on the corner with other people drinking. We had fun until about 10pm when our fun suddenly stopped. I saw a man with an AK-47 (assault rifle) open the sliding glass door.

He said nothing and began to fire. My friend and others at the pool table took cover. He fired bullets at her.

“I saw her fall to the ground. It was chaos. I hid under a table. Four dead people lay beside me. Her blood flowed over me. After the man with the assault rifle is done. Two more with 9 mm pistols came in and shot repeatedly at people on the ground.”

“People died before my eyes. Some screamed in pain. Drinks were distributed. After killing people, including my friend, the gunmen slowly walked away.’

The shocking tavern massacre in Soweto, Johannesburg, was followed hours earlier by a shootout at a bar in Pietermaritzburg that killed four people.

About 3 million guns are registered in the country, according to the campaign group Gun Free South Africa, although many more are unregistered.