[imagesource: Supplied to The Daily Maverick]

21 people died under mysterious circumstances at Enyobeni tavern in Scenery Park, East London, last month.

Footage shot before the incident occurred shows a packed venue with little to no crowd control and survivors told horror stories of being trapped inside.

The South African Police Services (SAPS) has now confirmed that arrests have been made in connection with the tragedy, reports TimesLIVE:

Brig Tembinkosi Kinana said the 52-year-old owner and staff, aged 33 and 34, were arrested at the weekend and on Tuesday afternoon by a team of detectives working on the Scenery Park tragedy…

The police are investigating the alleged violation or contravention of the act for the selling or supplying of alcohol to children under the age of 18 years and for selling or supplying of alcohol to children under the age of 18 years by the owner.

Image: Malibongwe Dayimani / News24

The owner is expected to appear in the East London magistrate’s court on August 19 in connection with these charges.

The two staff members can opt to pay a fine of R2 000 in terms of the act. Failure to do would mean they must also appear in the same court.

Despite assurances that the forensic investigation into the cause of death would be prioritised as a matter of urgency, Kinana said it has not yet concluded.

There was confusion late last month when sources close to the investigation told News24 that carbon monoxide poisoning linked to the use of a petrol generator inside the venue appeared to be the likely cause of the tragedy.

However, a senior official in the Eastern Cape department of health’s forensic pathology services later told TimesLIVE this was “highly unlikely”. A second source labelled media reports pointing to generator fumes as the cause of the tragedy “completely untrue”.

[source:timeslive]