SOUTH AFRICA. Johannesburg: A suspected gas leak at the Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday night has killed 16 people, including three children, local officials say.
William Ntladi, a spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Municipality’s emergency services, stated to the media that a gas leak originated from a cylinder within the Angelo camp, an informal settlement with limited access to public services.
Emergency services received a call at approximately 8 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT) regarding an incident initially believed to be a gas explosion. However, upon arrival, first responders discovered that the fatalities were not the result of an explosion but rather the release of “poisonous gas” into the vicinity.
According to reports, the zama-zamas, who operate out of a shanty in the informal settlement, used a gas cylinder that leaked nitrate oxide. Ntladi initially provided an estimate of 24 fatalities resulting from the inhalation of nitrate gas.
However, Gauteng Province Premier Panyaza Lesufi later confirmed that the death toll had been officially revised to 16 after a recount.
Ntladi also suggested a possible reason for the leakage during an interview with a public broadcaster. He suspected it was related to unlawful mining in the area.
So far, there have been no hospitalisations reported. Ntladi, however, stated that rescue and search efforts were still in progress as detectives toiled through the night to find casualties.
Ntladi, during an interview with a South African news channel, mentioned that the gas cylinder was “basically empty” when emergency personnel arrived on the site.
“So we don’t know from when was this activity taking place,” he said.
He speculated that gold had been extracted from the soil using nitrate as a catalyst. In South Africa, illegal gold mining has been a persistent danger because of the country’s extreme poverty, high unemployment rate, and criminal activity.
Informal miners, known as “zama zamas”—the Zulu term for individuals who try their luck—put their lives at risk in abandoned mines and makeshift tunnels that lack safety measures.
In May, a deadly gas explosion claimed the lives of around 31 illegal miners in the city of Welkom, leaving their bodies trapped underground.
However, rescue operations faced significant challenges due to elevated methane levels in the mine, posing the constant danger of additional explosions.
There are approximately 6,000 abandoned gold mines in the country, according to estimates, and environmentalists have expressed concerns about the adverse effects of industrial mining, including poverty and health issues in nearby regions.
The emergence of informal mining as a replacement has been linked to an increase in gang violence and conflicts over territory as individuals competing to access the most lucrative mining areas engage in power struggles.
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