According to a statement from the South African Police Service, the 52-year-old owner of the Enyobeni Tavern and two employees, aged 33 and 34, were taken into custody over the weekend and on Tuesday afternoon by a team of detectives investigating the incident in Scenery Park, a suburb. on the edge of the seaside town of East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The names of the suspects were not released. Police said the arrests came after the Eastern Cape Liquor Board opened a criminal case against Enyobeni Tavern for allegedly selling alcohol to minors. Investigators subsequently fined the two employees 2,000 South African rand (about $118) and served a summons on the owner for his immediate arrest and court appearance, police said. The owner is scheduled to appear at East London Crown Court on August 19. Each of the employees was allowed to pay the fine. but if they do not, they will be summoned to appear in the same court on the same day, police said. Coroner’s staff investigate after the deaths of patrons found inside the Enyobeni Tavern, in Scenery Park, outside East London in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, June 26, 2022. Reuters, FILE What caused the deaths of the 21 teenagers — 12 girls and nine boys — remains unknown. They met at Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park in the early hours of June 26. Seventeen of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while another four died while being treated or transported to hospitals, police said. Police said the victims ranged in age from 13 to 17 — all under the legal drinking age of 18 in South Africa. The local government, the Metropolitan Municipality of Buffalo, held a mass funeral for the victims in East London last week. Thousands of people attended the symbolic service, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who delivered the eulogy for the young victims. The bodies were buried with private ceremonies in various cemeteries. Toxicology reports were still pending as of Wednesday. According to the police, a riot has been ruled out because the bodies did not bear serious injuries. A view of coffins during a funeral held at Scenery Park, East London, South Africa, July 6, 2022. AP, FILE Police declined to comment on a possible cause of death or the circumstances surrounding the incident, citing the ongoing investigation. “Just as we said at the outset, the investigation is a process and must be handled with extreme care and wisdom so that we can achieve the desired results that we will all be proud of,” the South African Police Service Commissioner for Eastern Cape province, Major General Nomtheheleli Mene, said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is just the beginning of the great work we do behind the scenes.” The Daily Dispatch, a South African newspaper published in East London, reported that the teenagers were attending a party at the Enyobeni Tavern to celebrate school exams at the end of June. According to information, their bodies were found scattered on tables, chairs and on the dance floor with no visible signs of injury. A 22-year-old Scenery Park resident, Sibongile Mtsewu, told ABC News he was at Enyobeni Tavern when the fatal incident unfolded. He said he was ordering drinks in the packed club when the doors suddenly closed and some sort of chemical agent, such as tear gas or pepper spray, was released into the air. “There was no way out,” Mtsewu told ABC News in a phone interview earlier this month. “There was no way I could breathe.”
