As the country is still reeling in shock following the tanker explosion that occurred in Ekurhuleni, Boksburg, the death toll has gone up to 18.
BusinessTech Africa has learnt that the deaths resulting from the gas tanker explosion in the East of Johannesburg are still rising.
MoneyWeb has it that officials have announced that the death toll from a gas tanker explosion in Johannesburg on Christmas Eve has climbed to 18.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has since promised to support people affected by the blast that causes shockwaves all over the world.
The explosion tore the roof off the emergency department at the Tambo Memorial Hospital, destroyed two houses, and several cars, and injured bystanders up to 500 metres from the scene in the city’s Boksburg suburb.
The heavy-duty vehicle caught fire under a low bridge and the truck driver has been arrested on suspicion of culpable homicide, the South African police confirmed.
“Of the 18 deceased people, nine are Tambo Memorial Hospital staff,” the Gauteng Department of Health said in a statement.
President Ramaphosa said hospital patients and children were among the dead.
“The nation’s hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating incident,” he added in a statement.
“While we await the outcome of investigations into this tragedy, this incident does… call on all of us to show due care and to avoid risk when we are out on our roads.”
Describing the incident, a mother that lost five of her children in the explosion said she felt like she was living in a horrific nightmare.
A distraught Rosetta Briets lost five of her children on Saturday, Gerrie (10), Sebastian, (14), Adrian, (14)-years-old, Jamel (16), and Jes (25) are the names of her five children.
“I am heartbroken, and I am taking it day by day. I’m living it day by day just to get through everything,” she said per EWN.
Briets said after the blast, she went to the scene and saw all her children lying on the grass, already dead, saying her eldest daughter, Jamel, was quiet and liked to keep to herself.
“All three of her brothers were more lovable and always played with the other small ones,” she added.
