ONE person has died and two people were criticaly injured in a chemical explosion that happened this afternoon (November 18) on Balfour Road in Wentworth. Initial reports suggest that a gas bottle that was stored by a company on Balfour Road exploded.

Also read: New hazardous storage facility: Durban residents object

Garrith Jamieson, spokesperson for ALS Paramedics, said paramedics arrived on scene to chaos. “The explosion left three people injured. Advanced life support paramedics worked to try and stabilise the three critically injured people. However, one of the patients went into a state of cardiac arrest due to the nature of his injuries and, unfortunately, passed away,” he said.

Jamieson added that the two other patients were stabilised on scene before being transported to the local hospital to receive the urgent care they required. Emergency response teams, along with the fire department and a number of private security companies, rushed to the scene to provide the necessary assistance. Containment is currently underway to make the situation safe

This is a developing story, and updates will follow as more information becomes available.

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