05 September 2016, Pretoria – A tanker, fully-loaded with 55 000 litres of petrol exploded on Sunday morning, spewing a huge fireball into the air at the Watlou depot in Silverton, Tshwane emergency services said.
“There was lots of smoke and spectator value,” said the service’s spokesperson Johan Pieterse, adding that no one was injured.
He said the accident occurred around 08:00.
“The driver was busy waiting to get instructions at the Total depot when the tanker caught fire.”
He said the fire caused the top of the first trailer to rupture, as well as spread to the second trailer.
However, firefighters attended the scene and were able to use foam lines to cool down the fires and eventually extinguish them.
Some of the petrol did leak into drains and onto the roadway but environmental management teams were now attending to the scene.
“Our firefighters did very well,” said Pieterse.
- News24