Gunmen shot and killed 15, wounded 9 inside a South African tavern in Soweto township

“A group of men armed with rifles and 9mm pistols entered the tavern and started shooting randomly at the patrons who were sitting inside,” the statement said.

The shooting is the latest mass casualty event at taverns in South Africa in recent weeks. Also Saturday, four people were shot dead and eight wounded at a tavern in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The shootings come two weeks after 21 teenagers died at a tavern in East London South Africa in what officials are calling possible poisoning. There is no indication that any of the mass casualty events are connected.

Police are still investigating the motive behind the Soweto shooting.

Witnesses, who refused to give their names, told News24 they ducked for cover and some neighbors used their cars to transport victims to a hospital.

“I thought they were shooting outside my house. I didn’t want to be caught by stray bullets. I heard people running in my yard,” one neighbor said. “Later, I went outside and saw five dead bodies outside the tavern,” she said.

Another neighbor said gunshots were nothing new in the area at night but this time “it sounded like it was a war.”

Ward Councillor Mohau Molefe said he feared the shooting could inflame tensions between varying ethnic groups in the area near Johannesburg.

“This incident is going to spark a lot of unrest in this community because there are people who believe this could be associated with tribal wars,” Molefe told eNCA television network.

“There are people from different ethnic groups staying in this community and some have more rifles than others.”

“There is no clear motive of what could be the reasons that have led to 15 dead bodies in that space. We are all worried, we are all trembling. We are not sure what is going on,” said Molefe.