South African police investigate the death of at least 22 people in a nightclub in the south of the country | International

South African police are investigating the deaths of at least 22 people, mostly young people between the ages of 18 and 20, who were found dead in a nightclub in a mostly black slum in the city of East London, Cape Province. Oriental, in the southeast of the country, according to local media reports this Sunday. At this time, the circumstances surrounding the incident are unknown.

Nomthetheleli Mene, chief of police for the Eastern Cape, explained in statements to the SABC station that they were alerted around 4:00 in the morning that there were several “young people” dead in the premises due to a probable stampede. “The circumstances are being investigated and we do not want to speculate on what may have happened,” added another local police official, Tembinkosi Kinana. “Forensic experts are collecting information, we don’t know what happened, we have to wait for the investigation to continue,” he detailed.

Many people have gathered around the cordoned off area, near the nightclub, to get information about their children after they went out to have fun last night and have not yet returned home. According to the Facebook page of the place, the place was reserved for a theme party where the birthdays of two people were going to be celebrated. A resident has told the local media that the tavern used to be very busy and that it is not the first time that an incident has been recorded.

Xolile Malangeni, a father who believes his two sons may be among the victims, demands that the Provincial Liquor Board revoke the tavern’s liquor license. “I don’t want to say that the Liquor Board has failed, even the police have failed, but if the police were on patrol and the Liquor Board says the opening license is at 2.00, this happened after 3.00 and the owner knows the rules”, he said in statements collected by the SABC station.

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has expressed his condolences in a Twitter message: “My deepest condolences to the families of the 22 teenagers who lost their lives in a tavern in Scenery Park, East London, in the early hours of this morning”. “This tragedy is even more serious because it has occurred during Youth Month, a time during which we celebrate youth, defend and promote opportunities to improve the socioeconomic conditions of our nation’s youth,” he said.

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