Explosion rips apart busy road in Johannesburg, 41 injured

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - A suspected gas explosion ripped apart a busy road in South Africa's biggest city of Johannesburg on Wednesday, damaging several passenger vehicles and injuring dozens of people.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi told a media briefing that 41 people have been hospitalized with various degrees of injuries from the blast, which occurred after 5 p.m. local time (1500GMT). He said no fatalities had been recorded.

Lesufi said several experts have been called in to determine what might have caused the explosion.

He said Bree Street, where the blast occurred, has been cordoned off together with parts of the adjacent streets.

The force from the explosion overturned several vehicles as the tarmac ripped apart as if it was an earthquake.

‘‘We have evacuated homeless people to a safe area,’’ Lesufi said.

People residing in flats along Bree Street have been advised to evacuate from the buildings.

Earlier this month, at least 16 people died after a suspected gas cylinder leak occurred at an informal settlement near the suburb of Boksburg just outside Johannesburg.

Ekurhuleni Emergency Services spokesman William Ntladi told reporters at the time that a nitrate oxide gas cylinder was found at the Angelo informal settlement which is suspected to have been used by illegal miners to extract gold, but investigations are still ongoing.