Hunt as S Africa footballer killed

Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was killed at around 8pm on Sunday after two gunmen entered a house he was visiting in Vosloorus township near Johannesburg while an accomplice waited outside, police said.

The 27-year-old was shot in the upper body, national police commissioner Gen Riah Phiyega said at a news conference announcing the manhunt for the three suspects.

Police also raised the reward to 250,000 rand (£14,100), hoping to get more information to find Meyiwa's killers.

The goalkeeper was shot while trying to stop the intruders, who had demanded mobile phones and money from people inside the home, said friend Tumelo Waka Madlala, who was at the house during the robbery.

"As they were running away we tried to stop them and that is when they shot him at point blank range," Mr Madlala told the Associated Press.

Police said Meyiwa was shot as he moved towards the intruders. Another person in the house was struggling with one of the intruders when Meyiwa was shot, they said.

The house belonged to Meyiwa's girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, a South African singer and celebrity, witnesses said.

There were seven people in the house before the intruders entered, according to police. No one else was hurt. A mobile phone was taken.

South Africa has a high rate of violent crime, an issue that was raised during the recent trial of Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius, who claimed he shot and killed his girlfriend by accident in the pre-dawn hours of February 14 2013 after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder in his home.

National football team coach Ephraim Mashaba wiped away tears at a news conference in Johannesburg as he spoke about Meyiwa, who had recently been made South Africa captain and led the team in four African Cup of Nations qualifiers this year. He had not conceded a goal in the four games.