Pretoria – President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent condolence messages to the leaders of South Korea, India and Somalia following disasters that claimed hundreds of lives in the three countries at the weekend.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Monday that Ramaphosa had sent a message to South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol following the death of more than 150 young people in a stampede during Halloween festivities in Seoul on Saturday night.
Suk-yeol has declared a period of national mourning.
“President Ramaphosa said the people of South Africa join the people of South Korea in mourning the lives lost in the tragic incident,” Magwenya said.
In India, more than 140 people perished when a bridge collapsed in the state of Gujarat during Diwali festivities.
In Somalia, an explosion in the capital, Mogadishu, claimed the lives of about 100 people, with scores of others reported injured.
“The thoughts of the people of South Africa are with the Indian and Somali families that have lost their loved ones,” Ramaphosa said.
The South African leader wished speedy recoveries to the injured.