On the 19th, an explosion occurred in the centre of Johannesburg, South Africa. Causing a large area of the road to collapse and overturning more than 20 vehicles. According to Agence France-Presse, as of now, the accident has caused one death and 48 injuries. And the specific cause is still under investigation.
During rush hour on the evening of the 19th, a loud noise was heard from a street in the center of Johannesburg. Followed by a large-scale subsidence of the road surface. More than 20 vehicles were affect by the explosion and road subsidence and rolled over or overturned. Some cars even slipped into the cracks caused by the explosion.
The Johannesburg municipal government stated that the explosion affected a total of five blocks. Residents have been evacuate from the area due to fears of a secondary explosion and the risk of building collapse.
Mputi, the owner of a store near the incident: At about 5 p.m., we heard an explosion. And we didn’t know what happened at the time. But we saw the car go up and then hit the ground, and it was a disaster, a mess.
The provincial government of Gauteng, where Johannesburg is located, said an underground gas explosion was suspect to have cause the accident, but it was unclear whether the gas had come from a leak from an underground pipe in the city or from another unidentified source.
However, according to the Associated Press, the Johannesburg natural gas supplier stated in a statement that there was no interruption of natural gas supply in the area where the incident occurred, and investigators did not find a natural gas leak. It is inferre that the cause of the explosion is unlikely to be its pipeline.
