Ten family members, including seven women, are massacred in mass shooting bloodbath in South Africa

Ten members of the same family, seven of them women, have been killed in a mass shooting at a house in South Africa, police said.

The family were ambushed by a group of gunmen and shot dead at their home in the city of Pietermaritzburg in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, police said.

Police did not give a motive for the shooting which occurred in the early hours of this morning.

Police minister Bheki Cele was due to visit the scene on Friday.

Shootings are common in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest murder rates with around 20,000 people killed every year out of a population of 60 million. 

Ten members of the same family, seven of them women, have been killed in a mass shooting at a house in South Africa , police said. PIctured: The scene of the shooting

In January, gunmen opened fire on a group of people celebrating a birthday in the southern port city of Gqeberha, killing eight and wounding three others.

The birthday celebrant was among those gunned down in the mass shooting. 

He had been celebrating his birthday with friends when two gunmen entered his yard and started shooting at the guests. 

Last year, 16 people died in a mass shooting at a bar in the Johannesburg township of Soweto when a group of armed men, some of them wielding rifles, opened fire on customers.

According to campaign group Gun Free South Africa, there are about 3 million guns registered in the country, though there are many more unregistered.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow…