JOHANNESBURG — One man died and not less than 48 folks had been injured after a suspected underground fuel explosion ripped open roads and flipped automobiles within the coronary heart of South Africa’s greatest metropolis, authorities and emergency providers mentioned Thursday.
Firefighters discovered the person’s physique discovered beneath a automobile.
The reason for the blast at night rush hour Wednesday in downtown Johannesburg remained unclear. The corporate that provides fuel to that a part of town mentioned it didn’t imagine its underground pipelines had been accountable, as authorities first thought.
An investigation was underway as metropolis authorities introduced in specialists to find out what different underground pipes or cables there have been within the space and if there was a risk of one other explosion or fuel leak.
“We’re nonetheless trying to find the supply,” mentioned Panyaza Lesufi, the premier of the Gauteng province, the place Johannesburg is positioned.
Firefighters found the physique of the person in a nighttime search of the blast space, Emergency Administration Companies spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi mentioned on Twitter.
Lesufi mentioned 12 folks remained in a number of Johannesburg hospitals for medical remedy. The opposite 36 individuals who had been harm had been discharged, he mentioned.
Some folks had been evacuated from the realm Wednesday night time resulting from fears of a second explosion or that multi-story buildings in a downtown part of town would possibly collapse. Lesufi mentioned “the harm is in depth.”
Nevertheless, folks returned to the busy space in Johannesburg’s central enterprise district on Thursday morning, both to return to their properties or get to work.
Authorities estimated that an space protecting 5 metropolis blocks was broken and not less than six roads had been affected. Not less than 34 automobiles had been broken, with a few of them flipped on their sides or mendacity on prime of different automobiles. Others had tumbled into gaping crevices that appeared in the course of roads because the harm resembled a scene from an apocalyptic film.
The explosion occurred simply earlier than 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Lesufi mentioned, simply as many individuals had been gathering on the streets to catch a minibus taxi residence, considered one of South Africa’s most typical commuting strategies. Many of the broken automobiles had been minibus taxis. Eyewitnesses mentioned some folks had been sitting within the buses when the explosion threw them into the air.
One man, who didn’t give his title, advised tv station eNCA that he was in his automotive when he heard “an enormous sound. The following factor, I used to be within the air and my automotive was overturning,” he mentioned. He mentioned he was shaken however unharmed.
Within the fast moments after the blast, folks had been seen operating as smoke poured out of a crack within the street.
Emergency crews searched via a number of the mangled, overturned automobiles and close by buildings deep into the night time, discovering the one fatality whereas the variety of injured rose from an preliminary 9 folks reported on Wednesday.
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AP Africa information: https://apnews.com/hub/africa