Four individuals who were being transported in a light vehicle were shot dead in the early hours of this morning during a chase and exchange of fire with the police in the city of Maputo.

The PRM spokesman in the country's capital, Leonel Muchina, told Television Miramar that at around 2 a.m. the group disobeyed the stop order given by a police brigade along Avenida Marginal and fled.

This increased the suspicion of the officers, who immediately set off in pursuit of the group, while firing into the air as a way of alerting the group to the need to urgently stop the vehicle. "Strangely, the group responded with gunfire," said the police.

In response, the police directed the barrels at the car, which ended up killing the four occupants on Julius Nyerere Avenue, near Combatants' Square. During the search, the police found an AKM and industrial pliers. Of the four dead, one was masked.

Work is now underway to identify the dead and notify their families.