The hit-style attack on three men gunned down on a secluded patch of railway line in Effingham‚ Durban North‚ on Sunday bears the hallmarks of a professional gunman.

One of the men was killed‚ the two others were gravely wounded. Their bodies were found strewn on the railway line near North Coast Road late in the afternoon.

Well-placed sources with knowledge of the investigation‚ who spoke to TimesLive on condition of anonymity‚ said that whoever had pulled the trigger had quickly gathered spent bullet casings that would otherwise have been left behind. “Whoever did this knew what they were doing. They took care to collect all of the doppies [spent brass casings] from the scene so nothing could be tied to the gun‚” one source said.

He added that the motive for the shooting was unclear.

Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said that a 25-year-old man had died at the scene and two others had been rushed to hospital for urgent treatment. She too was unable to shed light on the motive for the shooting.

Marshall Security spokesman Kyle van Reenen said that paramedics first at the scene had worked hard to stabilise the injured men.

“Once stabilised‚ an intricate rope system was devised by Ethekwini Fire and Rescue Services and the patients were lowered down a steep embankment to waiting ambulances‚” he said.

“Unfortunately there was nothing paramedics could do to assist the third man‚ who had sustained multiple fatal gun shot wounds‚ and he was declared deceased on the scene‚” he added.