Eleven killed in South Africa as gunmen open fire on Durban homestead

Eleven people, among them a pregnant woman, were shot dead late on Tuesday when armed men burst into a house in a township in Durban, South Africa, provincial officials said.

The victims had gathered at the homestead shortly before 11pm (local time) when the attackers entered and began shooting, according to Thamsanqa Ntuli, premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the province whose largest city is Durban.

Speaking to AFP on Wednesday, Ntuli said two people survived. Police have not yet identified a motive.

Ntuli said the killings had left residents "in profound shock and grief."

South African broadcaster eNCA reported that the gunmen herded everyone into a single room before opening fire, and torched a car belonging to one of the victims.

One resident told the channel he had grown up with some of those killed and had never seen anything like it in the area, likening the scene to something out of a film.

Mass shootings are a recurring feature of violent crime in South Africa, where both legally held and illegal guns are widespread. Attacks are frequently linked to gang feuds or to disputes between competing informal businesses.

The country has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with roughly 60 people killed every day in a population of about 62 million.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called crime one of the gravest threats facing the nation, and in March soldiers were sent to violence hotspots nationwide to reinforce the police.