By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
City of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda says any of the water, gas and electricity pipes “congesting” the City’s underground infrastructure may have caused the explosion on Wednesday afternoon.
“Any of these pipes could – due to pressure – have caused the explosion,” Gwamanda said.
Gwamanada and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi rushed to the scene of the explosion to assess the damage and brief the media.
He said what had happened was “indeed a tragedy”.
Gwamanda said there was currently a voluntary evacuation of people living in the buildings near where the explosion occurred.
“The Department of Human Settlements is doing occupational assessment and also assisting with [evaluating] the integrity of the buildings to determine if the foundations have been affected, so we can respond accordingly,” Gwamanda said.
Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the body of first casualty of the blast was discovered in the early hours of Thursday morning.
“In the early hours of this morning, we managed to recover a body of a male person on site where the explosion occurred yesterday.”
Lesufi said the body was discovered under a car in the wreckage.
“Unfortunately, during the process of handing over the vehicles that were affected to their owners we found the body of a male underneath the cars. The body has not been identified and we are trying to locate relatives and family members.”
He said the number of injured was 48, with 12 still in hospital. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Mulaudzi added the area affected by the blast has been cordoned off.
“At this stage, most parts of the roads in and around Bree Street are still closed. Motorists are urged to use alternative roads,” Mulaudzi said.
Egoli Gas has confirmed a “small leak” in its servitude pipeline located at the intersection of Bree and Eloff on a 100-millimetre pipeline.
A servitude is a limited right that one entity has to the use of another’s property, and Egoli Gas’s pipelines run along the sides of roads rather than in the center, where the explosion took place.
The company believes that the crack in the pipe was caused by the collapse of the road and is currently working to repair the leak.
Egoli Gas stated that the pipeline running along the servitude of Bree Street has been examined and found undamaged.
The company also noted that about 15 other utility lines, including a sewerage line, run directly beneath the street.
“Our pipelines run on the servitude of the road,” the company re-emphasized.
Egoli Gas also reported sightings of one or two blown-off manhole covers and a visible white, gas-like substance emerging from these openings as well as from some exposed road cracks.
The company clarified that piped natural gas is not visible to the human eye, suggesting that the visible emissions are likely warm steam.