A huge gas explosion tore through Johannesburg’s busy Bree Street yesterday evening, flipping cars like toys and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Eyewitnesses described seeing terrified pedestrians and motorists running for their lives. Several cars were overturned and left severely damaged along Bree Street, a major thoroughfare that was packed with vehicles and shoppers at the time of the blast.
Emergency services scrambled to evacuate the area and set up a triage centre to treat the injured. A witness said there was a strong smell of gas in the air and taxis were among the vehicles damaged. “It was absolute chaos, people were screaming and running in all directions,” he said.
“Luckily no one seemed to be seriously hurt but it could have been so much worse at that time of day.”
Videos posted on social media showed the full extent of the devastation, with vehicles tossed onto their sides and a massive crater torn in the road. Police have cordoned off the area while engineers inspect the ruptured gas main to determine the cause of the explosion.
City officials are warning residents to avoid the CBD while road closures and emergency repairs are carried out. A major clean-up and recovery operation is now underway after what witnesses are describing as Joburg’s “explosion from hell”!
