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JOHANNESBURG: At least 16 people, including three children, have died in a toxic substance gas leaking in South Africapolice said Wed.
Emergency services said as many as 24 people had died.
It was not immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the death toll.
Search and rescue teams are still working in the area, trying to ascertain the extent of the injuries.
South African police said the incident took place in a slum in Boksburg, on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg.
Police said the three children killed ranged in age from 1, 6 and 15. Two people were taken to hospital for treatment.
Boksburg is the city where 41 people died after a truck loaded with gas got stuck under a bridge and exploded on Christmas Eve.
Emergency services spokesman William Ntlady He said Wednesday’s death was caused by a leak from a gas cylinder that was kept in a hut in the Angelo informal settlement. He said the leak had stopped and teams were searching a radius of 100 meters around the cyclist for more victims.
Bodies were still lying on the ground “in and around the area,” Ntlady He said, and forensic investigators and pathologists were on their way to the scene.
“We can’t move anyone,” Ntlady said. “The bodies are still in place on the ground.”
Ntlady said the authorities’ initial information indicated that the drum was being used by illegal miners to process gold inside a hut.
Illegal mining is rampant in the gold-rich areas around Johannesburg, with miners going into closed and abandoned mines to scavenge for any remaining deposits.
Emergency services said as many as 24 people had died.
It was not immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the death toll.
Search and rescue teams are still working in the area, trying to ascertain the extent of the injuries.
South African police said the incident took place in a slum in Boksburg, on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg.
Police said the three children killed ranged in age from 1, 6 and 15. Two people were taken to hospital for treatment.
Boksburg is the city where 41 people died after a truck loaded with gas got stuck under a bridge and exploded on Christmas Eve.
Emergency services spokesman William Ntlady He said Wednesday’s death was caused by a leak from a gas cylinder that was kept in a hut in the Angelo informal settlement. He said the leak had stopped and teams were searching a radius of 100 meters around the cyclist for more victims.
Bodies were still lying on the ground “in and around the area,” Ntlady He said, and forensic investigators and pathologists were on their way to the scene.
“We can’t move anyone,” Ntlady said. “The bodies are still in place on the ground.”
Ntlady said the authorities’ initial information indicated that the drum was being used by illegal miners to process gold inside a hut.
Illegal mining is rampant in the gold-rich areas around Johannesburg, with miners going into closed and abandoned mines to scavenge for any remaining deposits.
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