|
| FILE- In this file photo dated Monday, May 26, 2014, South Africa's goalkeeper Senzo Robert Meyiwa makes a diving save against Australia during their friendly soccer match in Sydney. According to reports Sunday Oct. 26, 2014, soccer club Orlando Pirates says 27-year old South Africa goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa died during a shooting incident in South Africa. |
JOHANNESBURG
(AP) -- The captain of South Africa's national soccer team was fatally
shot when armed men broke into the house where he was staying, police
said.
Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was killed
around 8 p.m. Sunday after two gunmen entered a house in Vosloorus
township near Johannesburg while an accomplice waited outside, the
national police force said on its Twitter account. The three assailants
then fled on foot, according to the police service, which offered a
reward of nearly $14,000 for information leading to arrests in the case.
Police said there were seven people in the house during the attack, and that the shooting followed an "altercation."
Authorities said they would do everything possible to find the killers.
South
African soccer club Orlando Pirates confirmed Meyiwa's death, saying in
a statement that it "has learned with sadness about the untimely death
of our number one goalkeeper and current captain Senzo Meyiwa."
"This
is a sad loss whichever way you look at it - to Senzo's family, his
extended family, Orlando Pirates and to the nation," Pirates chairman
Irvin Khoza said.
Dean Furman, one of Meyiwa's
teammates, tweeted: "Beyond devastated at the loss of our captain &
friend Senzo Meyiwa. Thoughts & prayers are with his family &
friends at this terrible time."
Meyiwa was
South Africa's captain in its four qualifiers for the African Cup of
Nations this year, including its last game, a 0-0 draw with Republic of
Congo on Oct. 15.
It's the second death to hit
South African sports in three days, as former 800-meter world champion
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi was killed in a car crash on Friday. At the time,
President Jacob Zuma said "the nation has lost a true hero."
Early
Monday local time, the youth league of South Africa's ruling party sent
condolences to the families of Meyiwa and Mulaudzi, saying "their
premature passing is indeed a great loss to the country and sporting
nation."
