Braamfontein gas explosion: Joburg infrastructure back in focus
Disaster Management and Emergency Services are attempting to clear out buildings, businesses, and onlookers in the Johannesburg CBD after an explosion in Braamfontein rattled the city centre.
It’s understood the explosion went off inside a manhole where employees were carrying out maintenance work on the corner of Bertha and De Korte streets.
While the fire has since been extinguished, the underdevelopment and maintenance of the city’s infrastructure has once again come into sharp focus.
Several roads that were blocked off to traffic after the fire on Tuesday afternoon have now been reopened while Egoli Gas employees were seen clearing charred debris, rubble, and safety cones around the manhole.
“On arrival, we found that Egoli Gas employees were busy working closer to the truck. Their truck and the building they were working in front of caught fire,” said Emergency Services spokesperson Nana Radebe.
Radebe said an investigation into the cause of the fire was underway.
“At this moment the information that we have received is that it’s their usual maintenance but I’m sure they will have a full report of what they were doing and would also want to get information from them about what started the fire and where the fire had started.”
During the Bree Street explosion in July, the publication put detailed questions to Egoli Gas to discuss the maintenance of its infrastructure.
The gas company has an extensive and intricate gas pipeline that runs underneath the city.
Egoli Gas declined to be interviewed and would not respond to any questions we posed.
-EWN
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