Chairman of the portfolio committee on police Francois Beukman confirmed yesterday that experts and lobby groups would attend the firearm summit in Parliament at the end of this month.

The police’s annual report showed that 5 520 firearms were in the wrong hands last year, with some stolen from the police. Out of 10 113 guns stolen from individuals and government departments, half of them were returned to their owners and the other half destroyed by the police.

Beukman said the summit would give direction on the tightening of gun laws in the country. “The summit flows from our discussions in the portfolio committee on what kind of society we want,” said Beukman.

Among those to attend and address the summit include Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko, police chief General Riah Phiyega, trauma surgeon at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital Professor Sebastian van As and psychologist Dr Lane Benjamin.

Crime statistics show an increase in murders in 2013/14, with more than 17 000 people killed in that financial year, compared to more than 16 200 people murdered in 2012/13. The proliferation of illegal firearms has been ascribed to some, if not most, of the murders.

Other top South Africans to attend the gun summit include soccer boss Danny Jordaan.

Jordaan made an impassioned plea last year for more stringent gun laws following the killing of Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa.

Beukman said there was a huge interest in the summit, ranging from the government to civil society and specialists in various fields. Groote Schuur Hospital would give a report on child murder cases.

“I am sad for my friends, I’m shaking, I’m horrified, I can’t find the words,” tweeted Sylvain Wiltord, the former French footballer and cast member of Dropped.

Among the dead were the helicopters’ two pilots, Cesar Angulo, La Rioja’s security chief, told reporters.

The province is in a rugged area near the Andes mountains.

“Apparently there was a crash in which 10 people died. There were no survivors, according to the information we have,” Angulo said.

The pilots were Argentine and the passengers foreigners, provincial media reported.

“One of the helicopters belonged to the provincial government and the other to the organisers of an international survival competition that had been held for three years near the village of Villa Castelli. Sources said the passengers were French citizens,” Argentina’s official news agency Telam said.

Officers found the child after being called on Monday morning to a building on the city’s West Side.

The police official confirmed media reports that a 52-year-old relative used a circular saw to cut the baby’s throat, apparently because the girl wouldn’t stop crying. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because an official autopsy had not been performed.

The official said the woman is in police custody at a hospital with self-inflicted wounds.

Police said both the baby and the woman were found by another relative.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services officials said the agency had no prior contact with the family. Authorities said no other children were present in the home at the time of the incident.

Ben Llamas works with the child’s father and drove him to the scene. Llamas told the Chicago Tribune the father was upset but did not talk about what happened.

His friend had moved in to that house about a year ago with a woman, Llamas said. Together the couple had a young child.

“At first, he was reluctant, but when the baby came, he fell in love,” Llamas said. “He shows us pictures of that baby every day.”

Neighbours said several people live in the home where the baby was found.

“They were really good people,” Francisco Arreola told the Chicago Tribune in Spanish. “I would always see them and they were very happy. I never heard them fight or anything.”

Sapa-AP