By: Natasha Archary
The City of Johannesburg (COJ) has confirmed that methane gas was the cause of the Bree Street (Lillian Ngoyi Street) explosion, which ripped through the city center on 19 July.
In a statement, City Manager, Floyd Brink shared the findings from an extensive investigation put together by a team of professionals.
The report ruled out acts of terrorism, illegal mining, cable theft an Egoli Gas pipeline as the reason for the blast.
According to the COJ, the cause of the CBD explosion was methane gas which reportedly travelled up along the service tunnel.
An expert says these methane gas explosions occur worldwide, and was supposedly caused from an electric cable short which ignited accumulated methane gas that had infiltrated the tunnel exacerbated by welded ventilation/manholes.
Methane gas, which is lighter than air, is a highly combustible gas, but the source of the gas is still unknown.
A rough estimate for repairs currently sits at R178 million, but the City says this will likely change once detailed designs for the entire project has been submitted.
“In the interest of transparency, it’s important to report to residents of Johannesburg that the City has so far spent R4 million on the services of professional experts, coding off the site, technology used and the provision of temporary relief services in the form of water tankers, and temporary ablution facilities.
A lot of lessons were learned following this unfortunate incident, at this stage we remain confident that we are on the right path in our efforts to respond and recover from this incident, and will once more implore the public to bear with us and give us the space to do all we must for the successful recovery of the site and services.”
Brink says the City will be upgrading the tunnel design based on current international codes, to avoid future recurrence, and reduce the risk and severity of explosions.
Continuous gas detection sensor monitors and alarms will be introduced, and the tunnel roof and sidewalls will be designed to withstand and depressurize with deflagration vents.
Brink addressed reports that the City is ill-equipped to respond to the unforeseen emergency, and said that highly specialised technical skills are required in this regard, which is why assistance and support was leveraged from the private sector.
POV speaks to City spokesperson about the investigation into the cause of an explosion
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