South Africa, CAPE TOWN ― A gas leak in a South African slum near Johannesburg on Thursday killed at least 16 people, including children, according to emergency services, which revised the death toll after several people were resuscitated.
The accident, which occurred
Wednesday night in the informal town of Angelo, in the Boksburg region to the
east of Johannesburg, is thought to have been caused by illicit mining
activity.
"We currently have 16
persons at the site whose deaths have been verified. "Several others were
revived and transferred to hospital with the aid of paramedics," emergency
services spokesperson William Nthladi told AFP at the scene.
He said four of the victims were in hospital in a "critical" condition and eleven were in a "serious but stable" condition.
He said that a person, whom he
identified as a young man, was fully conscious.
According to France 24, the
dead were five mothers and three children.
Ntladi said emergency services received a complaint about a gas explosion around 8 p.m. but when they arrived they discovered it was a "gas leak from a cylinder" of "toxic gas".
"Because the number of cases continues to grow, we are busy
examining the entire affected area to determine the number of victims who are
hospitalized," he previously stated.
The gas was utilized "for
illegal mining activities," according to preliminary evidence, he added.
Thousands of illegal miners
live in South Africa, which has a staggering unemployment rate of more than
32%. Thousands of unlicensed miners flee mines seeking gold in dangerous and
frequently deadly conditions.
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