A crowd has gathered outside the tavern in East London where at least 17 people died in the early hours of Sunday morning in a stampede inside the venue.
The police and Emergency Service workers remain on the scene. Numerous people were also injured. SABC reporter, Abongile Jantjies, says a forensic investigation is also underway to determine the exact cause of the tragedy.
“Some of the residents are waiting, some of their children did not come home yesterday. So they are thinking some might be there. It is something that is not fathomable and they can’t understand what lead to it.”
Initial reports indicate that a stampede was triggered inside the tavern, an incident described as bizarre.
The spokesperson for the department of roads and safety, Unathi Binqose, says more detail will emerge during the day.
“We don’t know if they were poisoned or something else happened. The police are on the scene along with forensic experts to piece together what lead to this bad incident.”