CAPE TOWN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people were killed in three separate shootings in Cape Town, South Africa, from Saturday evening to early Sunday morning, local police said on Sunday.
"Provincial Serious Violent Crimes Unit detectives are investigating three separate shooting incidents in Langa, Gugulethu, and Khayelitsha after 11 people were shot and killed overnight," the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Cape Province said in a statement.
All three townships are located on the Cape Flats, a broad, low-lying area southeast and east of central Cape Town that has long been plagued by gang-related violence.
In Khayelitsha, three men aged 25, 31, and 35 were shot dead at about 10:50 p.m. local time on Saturday, police said. Meanwhile, four men and a woman were killed in a shooting at about 10:45 p.m. local time in Langa.
In a third incident, two men and a woman were shot dead at about 4:10 a.m. local time on Sunday in Gugulethu, while two other people were wounded, according to police.
Police said the motive for the shootings remained under investigation and no arrests had been made.
"Western Cape police have reinforced deployments in the affected areas as well as other potential hotspots," the statement said.
Western Cape Provincial Commissioner Sizakhele Dyantyi and his management team were visiting the affected communities to strengthen investigations and oversee police deployments, according to the statement.
Police urged anyone with information that could help expedite the investigations to contact SAPS. ■