Flashbacks haunt driver who saw Boksburg tanker explode

A motorist says she is still reliving the experience of witnessing a tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas exploding after becoming wedged under a low-lying bridge in Boksburg on Christmas Eve.

E-hailing driver Khomotjo Sarafina Ntlhane was in the area to drop off a client at the Tambo Memorial Hospital. The tanker explosion was about 100m from the hospital. At least 18 people were killed and scores injured.

“I'm still traumatised by the entire thing. I'm looking at all the losses that everyone suffered. It's bad, the lives lost, properties and belongings. It's a lot,” she told TimesLIVE outside the Boksburg magistrate's court, where the driver of the truck had been expected to appear. The case could not be brought as police are still investigating.

“A small banging sound takes me back to that explosion. Hearing all the screams and noise,” she said.

Ntlhane was among the first people on the scene after the crash.

“The truck driver directed me to use another lane next to the truck, but my car jammed before I could pass. He came to me and tried to start the car for me but it didn't start,” she said.

“As we were busy with my car, another car came and also got stuck, then a third also came and got stuck [including the colleague who had responded to her panicked call for help]. Then that's when we saw that there's some serious problem and we went to start diverting traffic to avoid any more vehicles getting stuck.

“The truck was making a noise so I moved away. I was not aware that the noise was actually the gas.”

The driver was initially fine but started feeling dizzy, she said. This was shortly after she saw a small fire had started between the truck and bridge.

“When the fire started, the driver started being weak and we called an ambulance and he was transported to the hospital. The people from his company and firefighters arrived.”

The initial fire seemed to have been extinguished by the firefighters but this was followed by explosions, she said. “The first explosion was lighter, but the second and third ones were very loud.”

Ntlhane watched, horrified, as some of the firefighters sustained burn wounds.

“Today is the first time I've left my home after what happened. I saw when the firefighters were burning. I am not sure that I will be able to travel on that same route because of what happened.”

She had also watched helplessly as her vehicle was destroyed.

“It was heartbreaking to watch because there was nothing we could do.”

Her vehicle was uninsured. 

TimesLIVE

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