At Least 17 Found Dead In South Africa's East London Nightclub, Cause Unknown So Far

New Delhi: At least 17 people were found dead at a nightclub in South Africa’s southern city of East London on Sunday, police said according to an AFP report. 

"We got a report about 17 (people) died in a local tavern in Scenery Park which is based in East London. We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident," a provincial police chief brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana told AFP.

"We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident," he added. He said the victims were aged between 18 and 20 years. According to the report, there are unverified pictures shared on social media showing bodies with no visible signs of injuries, strewn on the floor of the club.

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A local media Dispatch Live reported the incident may have unfolded in the early hours of Sunday morning, 26 June 2022.  The report stated that the bodies are strewn across the East London nightclub - on tables, chairs, and floor without any visible injuries to explain what could have happened to the patrons. Frustrated family members called the police and law enforcement to enter the club premises while calling out the names of their missing loved ones, but nobody responded, the publication reported.

Local television reports showed police officers trying to calm down a crowd of people gathered outside the club in the city, which lies on the Indian Ocean coast, nearly 1,000 kms south of Johannesburg, AFP reported. 

The cause of the deaths is unknown at this time but there has been speculation that the patrons were either exposed to some form of poison or an incident resulted in a large number being injured and killed in a stampede, Daily Dispatch reported.

A large number of police vehicles and ambulances are now on the scene, the publication reported.