At least six Lesotho nationals died and several others were injured after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle near in South Africa on Tuesday, police said.
The incident took place near the town of Meyerton, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Johannesburg.
Lesotho nationals killed in a mass shooting
Gauteng Police Deputy Commissioner Fred Kekana told reporters at the scene that the victims were travelling to Lesotho in a minibus.
A group of suspects opened fire on the vehicle without provocation, he said.
“The driver of the bus tried to push them off the road so that they don’t continue shooting at them and causing harm. Fortunately, he managed to distract them.”
Among the dead were four women and two men.
Kekana confirmed that all the passengers were Lesotho nationals, including 18 who were hospitalised.
The injured are currently receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Three suspects arrested
The gunmen later hijacked another vehicle, sparking a police chase involving K9 units, drones and helicopters.
This ultimately led to the arrest of three suspects, Kekana said.
He explained that the suspects who had been firing at the minibus abandoned their vehicle.
They climbed onto a bridge and hijacked a Datsun Go.
Nearby officers from the K9 Unit and the Vehicle Crime Investigation Unit noticed a woman crying and stopped to ask what had happened.
She told them she had just been hijacked.
Police immediately pursued the suspects and recovered the vehicle.
The officers arrested two suspects on the spot and later deployed drones to track down and arrest the third suspect, Kekana added.
