Three people have been killed in South Africa during violence on Wednesday targeting foreign-owned businesses in Soweto, police say.

Looters take items from a foreign-owned shop in Soweto, Johannesburg, on August 29, 2018Image copyrightAFP
Image captionProtests broke out after shopkeepers were accused of selling out-of-date and counterfeit produce, local reports say. It is thought the violence escalated after a Somali shopkeeper shot dead a teenager who allegedly tried to rob his store.
The Ethiopian owner of a looted grocery store in Soweto, Johannesburg, stands in his ransacked shopImage copyrightAFP
Image captionForeign-owned shops were looted, including this one run by an Ethiopian. Some shopkeepers are reported to have fled the area carrying the goods they managed to salvage.
A suspected looter emerges from of a looted foreign-owned shop in Soweto to be detained by South African police officers in JohannesburgImage copyrightAFP
Image captionPolice have arrested 27 people in connection with the looting and violence. This has reminded many in South Africa of the gruesome attacks of May 2008, reports the BBC's Pumza Fihlani. At that time 62 people died, 41 were foreigners and 21 were South Africans.
A suspected looter is detained by South African police officers as he emerges from of a looted foreign-owned shop in Soweto, JohannesburgImage copyrightAFP
Image captionOfficers are investigating who fired the fatal shots in the area and say that more arrests are expected.
A South African police officer holds a rifle as he stands in SowetoImage copyrightAFP
Image captionSecurity has been stepped up following the protests and violence and shopkeepers were told to temporarily close their businesses.
A South African police officer stands in the door way of a looted foreign-owned shop in Soweto,Image copyrightAFP
Image captionSome of the shopkeepers fear that there could be further violence. "There is no government here. If there was a government here, they would control these things," one is quoted as saying.
South African police officers control the crowd in front of a looted foreign-owned shop in Soweto, Johannesburg,Image copyrightAFP
Image captionThere are lingering fears that much like in 2008, the violence could spread to other parts of the country, our correspondent says.
Bystanders look on as a South African police officer stands near a looted foreign-owned shop in Soweto, JohannesburgImage copyrightAFP
Image captionThe local authorities said they were looking into the allegations that the shops were selling out-of-date and counterfeit goods.

Pictures from AFP and Reuters
Source:BBC