Gunmen in South Africa have killed 11 taxi drivers in an ambush, police say.
The men from Gauteng Province were travelling to Johannesburg on Saturday night when their minibus was fired on.
The
victims, and four others critically injured, were returning from a
colleague's funeral in the coastal region of Kwa-Zulu Natal, police
said.
The motive is unclear although rivalry between
groups running minibus taxi routes in South Africa has led to violence
in the past.
Seriously injured
Minibus taxis are the most popular form of transportation among South Africa's population of 55 million.
Police
spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said the vehicle was attacked
between the towns of Colenso and Weenen, in the coastal province.
"The vehicle was ambushed. There were 11 fatalities and four were seriously injured and are in hospital," he told reporters.
"There has been a lot of taxi violence in the area but we are still investigating who the perpetrators were."
A police escort
The targeted attack comes days after deadly shootings in Johannesburg, South African media reported.
In
one week, a taxi owner reportedly with "no enemies" was shot dead in
his vehicle, and two others were killed while travelling under a police
escort.
Ten people were also killed in violence related to rivalries among minibus drivers in Cape Town over one weekend in May.
(The EastAfrican)
(The EastAfrican)
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