While in South Africa the death of 21 youths on Saturday night in east London remains a mystery, on Monday the informal bar where the bodies were discovered was combed by police looking for leads, survivors say “lying bodies” and a suspicious “smell”.
At dawn on Sunday, the bodies of 17 youths, some as young as 13, were found in a shebeen (township bar, poor suburb) in east London, south of the country. Four later died in hospital. Thirteen boys, eight girls total, no obvious injuries.
22 people died at a tavern in East London, ENYOBENI, after a stampede. Cause investigated. Numerous injured. Ambulance and police are still on duty. Forensic investigation ongoing. #SABCNEWS pic.twitter.com/rj3vPlXrzN
– Jurie Blignaut (@kluisenaar) June 26, 2022
Sinovuyo Monyane, 19, a survivor, tells the crowd about the lack of air: “I passed out. I was out of breath, there was a strong smell, some kind of spray. We thought pepper spray.” The young woman who was reached by phone, who worked for an alcohol brand that night, regained consciousness when water hit her face. “There were bodies lying around. Some people splashed water on them, but they didn’t even move.”
Alcohol intoxication, poisoning?
According to DJ Luhlemela Ulana, the situation in the crowded space of the two-story building has become “unmanageable”. He recalls trying in vain to calm the revelers by stopping the music. “We tried to close the door but people kept pushing. The bouncers couldn’t handle the crowd,” he explains. The bar owner who called during the night from Saturday to Sunday spoke of a mass panic. He faces charges.
Alcohol intoxication, poisoning, several leads are being conjured up at the moment about the origin of the deaths. Autopsies are in progress, authorities said. A total of 31 people were taken to the hospital. Vomiting, headaches, some complained of back and chest pains. Two people are still in the hospital
“Samples were taken and flown to Cape Town today,” 800km west of East London, where tests, including toxicological tests, are to be carried out, said Unathi Binqose, a government official in charge of safety affairs. A special investigative team was dispatched from Pretoria. So far, the police have not made any arrests. According to authorities, most of the victims are students celebrating their end-of-semester exams.
A place “should be off limits” to minors.
On Sunday, parents and loved ones of the missing youths gathered outside the bar while hearses transported the bodies to the morgue. The police minister tearfully described “terrifying” images after seeing the bodies. President Cyril Ramaphosa regretted that teenagers were “allowed into a place that, on the face of it, should be off-limits to anyone under the age of 18.”
In South Africa, the consumption of alcohol is prohibited for persons under the age of 18. But the law isn’t always applied, especially in informal bars. Called “shebeens,” they were illegal drinking establishments during apartheid and are now sanctioned or condoned in the townships, former black ghettos.
The head of the African Union Commission, Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, tweeted his sadness and offered his prayers “at this time of unspeakable sorrow and pain.”