15 persons were killed in Soweto as they were having fun at a bar, Police said on Sunday that, assailants drew up in a mini bus taxi and began randomly shooting at a bar.

The police in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg, reported that four people were killed while eight were wounded when two men fired discriminately at customers in the bar.

Police sources noted that it was too early to say if the assaults were in some way connected but observed their similarity.

“In Soweto, Johannesburg’s largest township to the southwest of South Africa’s economic capital, police were called to the scene shortly after midnight.

“We were called in the early hours of the morning, around 12:30 am (22:30 GMT),” Police lieutenant Elias Mawela said.

“When we arrived at the scene, 12 people were dead with gunshot wounds, noting that eleven people were taken to hospital and three died shortly after arrival.

She said, “there were no details regarding the assailants.

“Nobody has been arrested. Officers are still on site. They came and shot at people who were having fun,” said Kubheka, commander of the Orlando police station, the Soweto district where the shooting took place.

In a separate incident, four people were killed during a shoot-out in a bar in Pietermaritzburg in eastern South Africa.

“The shooting took place towards 08:30 pm (18:30GMT) on Saturday and left eight others injured, local police spokesman Nqobile Gwala said.

“Two men drove up, entered the bar and “fired random shots at the patrons”, before fleeing, he said. A total of 12 people were shot. Two people were declared dead at the scene and the other two died in hospital.

“Another eight people are still in hospital after they sustained injuries.”