By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Johannesburg emergency medical services says, at least one person has died in a suspected explosion on Thursday afternoon at an unused mine in Braamfischerville, west of Soweto.
“The explosion resulted from a dynamite that was connected to a vehicle battery,” said spokesperson Xolile Khumalo.
Khumalo said one person died from injuries sustained from the explosive, while another was rushed to hospital and a third sustained minor injuries.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the blast reported in Braam Fischerville is unrelated to the one in the Joburg CBD on Wednesday.
Lesufi was briefing the media on the initial findings following an explosion that happened in the Inner City of Johannesburg.
He has called for officials to quickly provide answers.
The team must give us answers as soon as possible on which systems are affected. If the systems are not affected, we can restore electricity and water services quickly. However, we are stuck because we don’t know the cause,” said Lesufi.
The explosion on Bree Street in Central Johannesburg claimed one life and injured 48 others.
Thirty-seven vehicles, most of them taxis, were also damaged during the explosion which destroyed sections of Bree and Rissik streets.
Transport Minster Sindisiwe Chikunga said her department will meet with taxi associations following the explosion.
“We will want to engage with SANTACO to know what damage was caused by the blast, we will be discussing wit the taxi industry as the department of transport,” the minister said on Thursday.
Shortly after the incident the National Taxi Alliance spokesperson Theo Malele said they still need to assess the damage.
“We are assessing the situation and listening to experts for further advise that will inform our further actions and activities, we will update our commuters and the public about operations and temporal relocations for safety reasons, if any.”
Egoli Gas, who are market leaders in natural gas supplies catering to over 8,500 customers in Joburg, said they had detected a small leak on one of their pipelines located at the intersection of Bree and Eloff streets.
The company said it believed that the crack in the pipe was caused by the collapse of the road and is currently working to repair the leak.
“Egoli Gas is in the early stages of the investigation; our technicians are currently on site,” they said in a statement.
While there were speculations that the disastrous explosion in Johannesburg was caused by illegal mining, the department of mineral resources & energy and energy says it is unlikely.