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For reasons not yet known, more than 20 people have died after visiting a nightclub in the South African city of East London.
Local authorities initially confirmed that 17 bodies had been found in the restaurant.
Several others have died in hospital and others are in critical condition, provincial government security chief Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said on local television.
Most recently, the authorities spoke of 22 dead.
According to a police spokesman, the victims were between 18 and 20 years old.
The cause of death is so far unclear, but the bodies apparently had no external injuries.
However, some eyewitnesses suspect poisoning of the pub-goers.
The bodies were found on the ground.
“No open wounds, no nothing.
We don't know if they were poisoned or if something else happened," a ministry official said.
Mass panic is considered unlikely
According to reports from emergency services, there was also a crowd in the small tavern.
However, an official from the Eastern Cape province ruled out stampede as the cause.
"It's hard to believe there was stampede as there are no visible open wounds on the dead," said one investigator.
Local newspaper DispatchLive reported: "The bodies are on tables, chairs and on the floor." Local television showed police officers trying to calm a crowd outside the nightclub.
"Parents whose children have not slept at home have gathered here," said one investigator.
Apparently it was a celebration after school-leaving exams.
The incident was reported in the early hours of the morning and the police had launched a forensic investigation, a police officer told the public broadcaster SABC.
East London is almost 1000 kilometers south of Johannesburg on the Indian Ocean.
Apr/AFP/dpa
