JOHANNESBURG, Sept 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - South African police said Saturday they were launching a manhunt after 17 people were shot dead in a town in the east of the country.

"In one house, 13 people were killed -- 12 women and one man. In another, four people were killed. An 18th victim is in critical condition in a hospital," the police said in a statement.

South African media said the mass shootings occurred Friday night in the town of Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape province about 200 kilometres (125 miles) southwest of Durban.

"We do not know the motive" and "we do not know if there is one or several suspects on the run", national police chief Fannie Masemola said on SABC public television.

In mid-September, seven members of a family, including three children, were shot dead at their home in KwaZulu-Natal, also in the east of the country.

The killers in that affair have not been caught.