Authorities have announced that three people were arrested in connection to the deaths of 21 teenagers at a South African bar.
The 52-year-old owner of the bar and two employees, 33 and 34, were recently taken into custody, According to CBS News.
The owner of the business will be appearing in court on August 19 to face charges of selling or supplying alcohol for minors. The two employees each have a 2,000-rand — equivalent to $118 USD — fine to pay, police said in a statement.
The 21 young individuals, most of whom were teens, died on June 26 at the Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park — a township in East London.
According to the outlet it is not clear what caused their death.
The survivors described the struggle to escape from the packed venue. One reported that it was suffocating.
Sinovuyo Monyane (19) told AFP that she tried to escape from a door simultaneously with several others.
“We tried moving through the crowd, shouting ‘please let us through,’ and others were shouting ‘we are dying, guys,’ and ‘we are suffocating’ and ‘there are people who can’t breathe,'”She spoke to the outlet.
Officials claim that a stampede was not possible, but that they have not completed their investigation and that autopsy results are not yet public.
“Just as we said in the beginning, investigation is a process and needs to be treated with extreme care and wisdom so that we can achieve the desired outcomes,”Nomthetheleli Mene, Eastern Cape commissioner, stated in a statement.
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa attributed the deaths to the organisers of a memorial service. “scourge of underage drinking”And vowed to crackdown “unscrupulous”According to CBS News, bar owners can bypass regulations
“We do not know yet exactly what killed our children. But we do know that the law was broken that night, and probably many nights before then,”Ramaphosa spoke.