WATCH | ‘It was like a horror movie’ – Tavern tragedy survivor details how people ‘struggled to breath’

WATCH | 'It was like a horror movie' - Tavern tragedy survivor details how people 'struggled to breath'

Cape Town – One of the survivors of the Enyobeni tavern tragedy that left at least 21 people dead on Sunday morning has reportedly described how the incident occurred and how one of those who died “cried for help”.

She reportedly said that the incident was “like a horror movie”.

Eastern Cape provincial government said eight girls and 13 boys had died at the tavern, in a residential area called Scenery Park. Seventeen were found dead at the scene, while the rest died in hospital.

According to TimesLives, the 24-year-old survivor said one of the deceased teenagers, who were rushing out of the tavern in Scenery Park, East London died calling for help.

“One of those who died there cried for help as I was rushing outside, saying, ‘Sisi, please help me, I’m dying. I could see she was drawing her last breath. She was lying down and people were all over her. It was like a horror movie,” the report quoted the survivor as saying.

The survivor who had arrived at the tavern at around about 1pm said a stampede occurred, as people were trying to get out of the tavern.

“People were struggling to breathe because they [tavern staff] had sprayed something. Luckily my friends and I managed to escape unharmed,” said the survivor.

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Although the cause of the death was still unknown, as police investigations were ongoing,  it was alleged that pepper spray was sprayed into the crowd which led to a stampede, reported IOL.

“Because a lot of people died, people are expecting some major reason for the deaths whereas people died because they couldn’t breathe. We were stuck at one place with no air coming just breathing in pepper spray, some even fell down and never got back up just got stepped on,” the report quoted a youngster who was at the venue.

National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that police received reports of “lifeless bodies” at about 04:00 on Sunday morning, reported News24.

A team of crime scene experts led by Minister Bheki Cele and national SAPS commissioner General Fannie Masemola who visited the scene on Sunday has been deployed to assist the Eastern Cape Crime Scene Investigation teams, the report said.

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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe 

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