UPDATED…
Johannesburg – Six bodies with gunshot wounds have been found along the N1, just after the R41 bridge, emergency responders on the scene reported Wednesday morning.
“Paramedics are in attendance of a shooting incident on the N1 national highway, just after the R41 bridge,” Emer-G-Med Paramedics said.
“Four men have been found with fatal gunshot wounds and have been declared dead on arrival of paramedics.
“The facts surrounding the incident and the events preceding it are unclear.”
SA Police Services officers have since found two more bodies in the veld, bringing the number of deceased to six.
Residents from the nearby Bosmont suburb said some of the bodies appeared to have been hacked.
A witness said on Tuesday evening he saw several men running from the nearby graveyard, where a tunnel has been dug to an illegal mine.
He said the suspected illegal miners were chased down by a large group of about 100 people.
The Witness said the suspected illegal miners were shot at as they fled.
However, police said the deaths were a result of a fight between rival gangs of illegal miners.
Another resident complained about rising crime in the area and pointed an accusatory finger at illegal miners, better known as “Zama Zamas”.
