22 people died in a pub in South Africa, cause unknown; Probe underway

According to a top safety official, at least 22 people were killed on Sunday at a makeshift nightclub in a township in South Africa’s southern city of East London (June 26). The official stated that the victims were between the ages of 18 and 20. The bodies were discovered in the Enyobeni Tavern, although the cause of death is unknown. According to media accounts, numerous persons were hurt.

Siyanda Manana, a spokesman for the Eastern Cape provincial health department, told Reuters: ‘We will immediately begin autopsy to determine the probable cause of death. We are now accepting 22 people ‘, Manana added. According to DispatchLive, ‘corpses are laying sprawled across tables, chairs, and the floor; with no evident evidence of injuries’. Several unsubstantiated images of the occurrences were posted on social media groups. They also displayed bodies with no evident traces of injury.

Unathi Binqose, an officer with the provincial community and safety department, ruled out a stampede as the cause of death. According to Binqose, ‘it’s tough to think it’s a stampede because there are no evident open wounds on those who died’.  According to a police official, the ‘circumstances surrounding the occurrence are under investigation,’ according to the Newzroom Africa news programme. ‘ At this time, we do not want to speculate,’ Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana remarked.

Oscar Mabuyane, the head of the Eastern Cape Province, was taken aback as he talked from outside the scene. ‘ It’s really awful, we don’t comprehend it, losing 20 young lives like that,’ he remarked. He opposed ‘unfortunate usage, unrestrained intake of booze.  You can’t just trade in the centre of society like this and expect young people not to try,’ he continued.