/ 25 March 2008

Mob burns two foreigners to death

A Zimbabwean national was among two foreigners who have been burned to death during an attack by a mob in a slum area close to the Pretoria, police said on Tuesday.

The Zimbabwean was repeatedly assaulted before his attackers set fire to his shack in the Brazzaville settlement in Atteridgeville and then threw him inside, police spokesperson Patricia Simelane said.

Another foreigner in the same area, whose nationality was not disclosed, was also set ablaze late on Monday by a mob, she said.

“Residents in the area were complaining that foreigners were taking their jobs and shops,” she said, without giving further details.

Charges of murder and damage to property have been opened against three suspects who were arrested over the attacks, Simelane said.

The suspects, currently in a Pretoria prison, are expected to appear in court on Wednesday, she said. — AFP