South African police investigate suspected murders in Cape Town

South African detectives are investigating three separate incidents in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township in which a total of eight people are believed to have been murdered early on Wednesday morning, police said.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with about 20,000 murders recorded every year out of a population of about 60 million.

"At around 06:00 (0400 GMT) police were summoned to a shooting incident in Ncumu Street where the bodies of four males and one female were discovered with gunshot wounds," the South African Police Service said in a statement.

Police said preliminary investigations suggested that the five deaths in Ncumu Street could be linked to two incidents hours before.

"At around 02:50 an adult male and his adult girlfriend were shot and killed in Feza Street... and shortly after that a 35-year-old male was shot and killed not far from the first scene," police added.

Police have yet to give a motive for the killings but said the same suspects could be responsible.

According to campaign group Gun Free South Africa, on average 31 people are shot and killed every day in the country, which has 4.5 million licensed guns.

This article originally appeared on Reuters

Image: Reuters