South African authorities were seeking answers Monday after 21 underage teenagers reportedly celebrating the end of school exams died in a mysterious incident at a nightclub.
The bodies of many of the victims, the youngest just 13, were discovered by police lying on tables, slumped over chairs and sprawled on the floor of the club in the early hours of Sunday morning.
But Police Minister Bheki Cele said forensic samples taken from the victims were being sent to a toxicology laboratory in Cape Town, indicating that police were investigating whether the victims had ingested a poison or toxin. Cele said the toxicology tests might take “a lot of time.” Police said they were called to the nightclub at around 4 a.m. Sunday morning after receiving a report that there were “lifeless bodies” there. Officers responding to the call walked in on a grim scene: 17 teenagers were found dead on the spot. Two more died at a local clinic, one died on the way to the hospital and one at the hospital. Their ages were between 13 and 17, police said.
“The scene I have seen here inside, it doesn’t matter what kind of a heart you have,” Cele said. “Firstly, the sight of those bodies sleeping there. But when you look at their faces you realize that you’re dealing with kids, kids, kids.”
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