GRAPHIC Photos & Videos: Chaos in South Africa, at least 75 people dead

At least 75 people have been killed in South Africa as the country remains in the grip of its worst unrest since the end of apartheid following the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma.

Footage shared on social media on Tuesday night appeared to show the Lenmed Hospital in Durban in flames while other videos showed shopkeepers opening fire on a crowd of looters.

Ten people were trampled to death during a stampede at a looted shopping mall in Soweto, Johannesburg as police and military eventually responded to the chaos, firing stun grenades and rubber bullets to try to halt the unrest. 

The riots, centred around KwaZulu-Natal and Guateng provinces, began last week and raged through the weekend after 79-year-old Zuma was jailed for failing to cooperate with a corruption probe. Tuesday also saw a community radio station ransacked and forced off the air some COVID-19 vaccination centres forced to close, disrupting urgently needed inoculations. 

Many of the deaths in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal occurred in chaotic stampedes as thousands of people stole food, electric appliances, liquor and clothing from stores, police Major General Mathapelo Peters said in a statement on Tuesday night. 

He said 27 deaths were being investigated in KwaZulu-Natal province and 45 in Gauteng province. 

In addition to the people crushed, Peters said police were investigating deaths caused by explosions when people tried to break into ATM machines, as well as other fatalities caused by shootings.