Natalie Nyathi
South Africa, Johannesburg: One person has died as a result of the explosion that shook the Johannesburg CBD on Wednesday (yesterday) and damaged nearby roadways and automobiles.
A man’s body was discovered close to the explosion scene, City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi stated this morning.
“We found a man’s body close to where the incident took place,” Mulaudzi stated on SAFM.
He claimed that when moving the damaged vehicles early this morning, emergency responders recovered the body.
“It appears that the individual was buried beneath a taxi’s wreckage.”
Mulaudzi reports that the total number of those affected by the incident now stands at 42 as forty- others were injured.
According to reports, two of the injured are in critical condition in the hospital.
He continued, “Thirty-seven vehicles, the majority of them minibus taxis, were damaged.”
According to Egoli Gas, the network “has experienced no pressure loss, which indicates the gas pipelines are intact” and it is therefore improbable that the explosion “was caused by a gas pipeline or leak” in the system.
We are unable to confirm the explosion’s cause, and the inquiry is still ongoing, said Mulaudzi. We need to start looking into that pipeline, but there might be illegal mining going on nearby. However, we are unable to confirm the cause at this time.
Zim GBC News 2023©