Source : Map
30/12/2022 14:25
The death toll from the explosion of a gas tanker east of Johannesburg has risen to 34, South African authorities said on Friday.
A previous report provided by the local authorities reported 27 dead and around 40 injured.
“The death toll from the incident of the explosion in the locality of Boksburg has risen to 34,” the Gauteng provincial health ministry said in a statement.
Reporting that the victims include 11 health care workers and 23 members of the public, including several children, the department noted that the numbers were constantly being updated as several seriously injured people are still fighting for their lives in hospital.
On Friday morning, families and friends of the victims gathered in Boksburg for a memorial service and honored the victims by lighting 34 candles.
The truck carrying 60,000 liters of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) caught fire last Saturday when it got stuck under a bridge near the Tambo Memorial Hospital, located in the residential district of Boksburg.
According to the authorities, the vehicle which was going to Botswana from the South African port of Richards Bay (east), was too high to pass there.
Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesman William Ntladi said the bridge was completely destroyed, while part of the roof of the hospital’s emergency department also collapsed and three nearby houses caught fire.
In addition, the explosion completely destroyed the railway infrastructure located on the bridge, he continued.
The Gauteng government has estimated that repairing the damage from the blast will cost 18 million rand (over $1 million).
Videos and photos shared on social networks show a huge explosion that occurred on a road that crosses a residential area, causing enormous material damage.