Thieves cut their way into a pipeline belonging to Transnet Pipelines just outside Ladysmith sometime last night (March 15) and made off with an unknown quantity of fuel.

Sometime during the theft, the pipeline caught fire. How, at this stage, is unclear.

There was a heavy police and private security presence at the scene, with a helicopter hovering overhead.

According to an official at the scene, the thieves use large containers which are filled and then rolled away to waiting vehicles. According to the official, this is not the first time this has happened at this particular spot.

The area is inaccessible by road and firefighters had to make their own road using a TLB to get their fire engine to the scene.

Transnet Pipelines spokesperson Saret Knoetze has confirmed the incident. “Transnet Pipelines’ security tactical teams detected tampering on a feeder-line off the decommissioned Durban to Johannesburg pipeline near Ladysmith. While the main pipeline has been emptied and totally decommissioned, the feeder-line still contains minimal decomposed product. The emergency teams were immediately deployed to the site to contain and recover the product and extinguish the fire.”

Read the full story in the next edition of the Ladysmith Gazette.

The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Newcastle Advertiser, a sold newspaper distributed in the Newcastle area.

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