BLOEMFONTEIN - Police in the Free State province on Friday said it had assembled a task team to probe the murder of a 55-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter, as well as the attempted murder of one of the woman's granddaughters.
In a statement, police said the bodies were found at a house in the gold mining town of Allanridge earlier on Friday morning.
"The body of the mother (55) was found in the bedroom and the body of the daughter (13) was found in the TV room," the statement said.
"The four-year-old granddaughter was airlifted to a hospital in Bloemfontein with a bullet wound to the thigh, another seven-year-old granddaughter escaped unscathed."
While details of the incident, which police said happened on Thursday night, remained unclear, officers believed two suspects were involved. The motive for the attack is unknown.
“We suspect that the incident happened in the middle of the night and the grandchildren who were visiting their granny for school holidays, waited until the morning so they could go seek assistance," said Lieutenant-General Moeketsi Sempe.
"We have therefore assembled a team of expert investigators that are already following leads so as to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice."