The leak of what authorities say was toxic nitrate gas occurred Wednesday night in the Boksburg informal settlement on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
At least 10 people were hospitalized, including a two-month-old baby, two four-year-olds and a nine-year-old, according to Panyaza Lesufi, premier of Gauteng province, who updated the information on Thursday.
Police said the three children who died were ages 1, 6 and 15. Two people were hospitalized for treatment, according to police.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement that it was “a terrible and tragic loss of innocent life.”
Several bodies remained lying on the ground, some covered with sheets or blankets, for hours after the leak was reported around 8 p.m. Wednesday, as emergency services waited for investigators and pathologists to do their work.
“It is not a pleasant scene at all… It is painful, emotionally draining and tragic,” Lesufi said after touring the place, according to various media.
An Associated Press reporter saw a coroner cover a baby’s body with a blanket. Another body, covered with a white cloth with a shoe sticking out, was inside the area cordoned off by the police with yellow tape. Finally, the corpses were removed.
Boksburg is the city where 41 people died after a truck carrying liquefied petroleum gas got stuck under a bridge and exploded on Christmas Eve.
Emergency services spokesman William Ntladi said Wednesday’s deaths were due to cyanide gas escaping from a cylinder kept in a cabin. He said the cylinder emptied due to the leak and special teams had scoured the area within 100 meters (109 yards) of the cylinder looking for more victims.
The researchers walked the narrow lanes between the huts in the dark from the lack of outdoor lighting, a common situation in extremely poor informal settlements in and around cities in South Africa. Six police vehicles, an armored car and an ambulance were positioned at the entrance to the Angelo settlement.
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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
FUENTE: Associated Press
