Nylon tracksuit catches fire: man suffers burns to his legs

THE Chloorkop company where a worker was injured on Wednesday said no explosion occurred in the tanker at the time of the incident.

“We herewith confirm that the information posted by ER24 as well as on the website of Kempton Express is totally inaccurate,” Christelle Grobbelaar, HR manager at GH Transport on Molekule Street, stated.

She said there was no explosion at all. “A subcontractor was cleaning a brand new tanker, which has never had any chemicals inside, with thinners prior to rubberising the inside of the tanker.

“The employee of the subcontractor used insufficient equipment inside the tanker and the heated light caused the thinners to ignite, at which time his nylon tracksuit pants caught fire and caused him to burn. The thinners immediately evaporated and it was not even necessary to use a fire extinguisher,” Grobbelaar said.

“The man sustained second degree burns on both legs. He also had a small laceration on his head which he bumped on the side of the tanker when he exited the tanker.”