Cape Town, Sep 1 (AP) Eighteen suspects were killed in a shootout with South African police in a rural northern region on Friday.

Police said their top officials, including the national commissioner of police, the deputy commissioner and the head of the elite Hawks unit were on their way to the scene of the shootout in the Makhado municipality in the Limpopo province.

Also Read | Great Kanto Quake: Is Japan Ready for the Next Big One?.

Police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe gave no more immediate information but local media reported that the 18 killed were in a gang suspected of robbing armoured vans carrying cash for banks, a common and often violent crime in South Africa that regularly leads to deadly shootouts.

The shootings added to an horrific two days for the country after at least 74 people died in a fire in a rundown apartment complex in the city of Johannesburg in the predawn hours of Thursday. (AP)

Also Read | Typhoon Saola in China: National Meteorological Center Issues Red Alert; Several Regions Suspend Manufacturing, Transportation Activities.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)