A woman was found shot dead and three children died in a fire after an attack on their Mitchells Plain home on Wednesday, Western Cape police said.
An unknown number of people allegedly set the house in Chrysler Street, Beacon Valley, on fire after trying to gain entry to it at about 4am, Inspector Bernadine Steyn said in a statement.
”The assailants also fired shots at the house, fatally wounding a 24-year-old woman.”
A divisional commander for Cape Town’s emergency services, Mike Lightley, said: ”A woman’s body was found near the front door. It seemed she was trying to get out of the house.
”The other people were found upstairs in the bedroom. Their bodies are badly charred and difficult to identify.”
Steyn said the three children killed in the fire were two girls, aged three and 14, and a six-year-old boy.
The motive for the incident is still not known and police asked anyone with information concerning the incident to contact the serious and violent crime unit at Tel: (021) 935 9600 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111. — Sapa