Firefighters extinguished a blaze on a gas pipeline near the Nelson Mandela Bridge in the Johannesburg CBD on Tuesday afternoon.
Egoli gas confirmed in a statement that there was an “isolated fire” on one of its pipelines, on the corner of De Korte and Bertha streets.
“The gas pipeline was immediately isolated, and the fire was contained within 15 minutes,” it said.
EMS spokesperson Nana Radebe said at the scene that five people were hospitalised and there were no reported deaths.
Rubble, safety cones and a metal frame in the road were visible at the scene.
Radebe said Egoli Gas had been performing routine maintenance on its pipes. She said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.
Egoli Gas said it had been working closely with City officials since the July explosion in Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street) to make Johannesburg safer.
“This involves exposing sections of pipeline and sleeving to ensure integrity of the network.”
It said that in conjunction with the City, it would put extra measures in place to ensure an incident like this did not reoccur.
Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said: “Following the Bree Street incident, the City has placed pressure on Egoli and other service providers to test and maintain their systems to prevent future accidents and minimise the risk [of] leaks and explosions.
“Residents in the area are advised that they may experience a strong gas scent and must not be concerned as the gas is being released into the atmosphere and poses no risk to health and life.
“We must, however, also decry a growing tendency where people converge around a scene of disaster taking pictures and videos as opposed to evacuating and moving away from such scenes. The Boksburg explosion must be a lesson that scenes of disaster must be cleared immediately by all.”
An eyewitness told News24 that she had inhaled gas. She had called a ward councillor to alert them about the flames because she did not see any emergency officials on scene.
She, however, praised the response team for arriving 10 minutes later and said the fire was put out in about 20 minutes.
A Braamfontein resident believed the city centre was ripe with the potential for disaster and was concerned because most people living in the area were young.
Joburg EMS officials were seen barricading the street, with the bridge temporarily inaccessible to traffic. Traffic was free flowing on Bertha Street, which intersects with De Korte.
Joburg Metro Police Department officers were helping motorists and monitoring traffic.