Almost 1 000 employees fled their offices in the Randburg CBD this morning after gas leaked into the ventilation system at their work premises.

JDG Trading, based in Kent Avenue, was in chaos as employees were evacuated. Five were seriously injured from gas inhalation.

Netcare spokesman Jeff Wicks said a mid-morning emergency call was made from the building after staff complained of tickling throats and difficulty breathing.

Paramedics and hazard material (hazmat) teams rushed to the scene.

Eight people received treatment at the scene. Five were in respiratory distress. The eight were quickly moved to a medical station set up further away from the noxious gases.

By 11am the five were stable.

Hazmat teams were still trying to find the source of the leak about 11am. Paramedics were unable to confirm what type of gas had leaked.

An explosion and fire killed two workers at a chemical factory in Jacobs, south Durban, South Africa.

The fire started after an explosion just after midnight in the Chemical Technologies building. Department of Labour officials are investigating the circumstances.

Firefighters spent about three hours trying to put out the blaze using foam as there were potentially toxic chemicals in the building. It is not yet known whether the men had been killed in the explosion or whether they had died of smoke inhalation.

Department of Labour officials are investigating the circumstances around a fire that claimed the lives of two workers at a factory in Jacobs, south Durban.

The fire started after an explosion just after midnight on Friday in the Chemical Technologies building on Brooklyn Road.

Firefighters spent about three hours trying to put out the blaze using foam as there were various chemicals in the building.

Two people have died after an explosion and fire at a factory in Jacobs. Firefighters were called to the company, Chemical Technologies, on Brooklyn Road just after midnight.


They have told Newswatch that when they arrived on scene the building was engulfed in flames and the fire had already spread to the top of the factory.  

Fire officials spent about three hours trying to put out the blaze using foam. This is a safer method due to the various chemicals in the building.   

JOHANNESBURG - A man was severely burnt while working in a factory in Strydom Park in the north of Johannesburg on Monday, paramedics said.

"The man was mixing chemicals which ignited. He turned away, and his back and arms were extensively burnt," said ER24 spokeswoman Vanessa Jackson.

As the Baragwanath Hospital burn ward was full, the man was airlifted to George Muhkari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, north-west of Pretoria, said Jackson.

our men suffered burns in a chemical gas explosion at a factory in Alrode Park on the East Rand on Monday morning, paramedics said.

“The four men were working in a closed pit and they described what seemed to be an explosion before the fire started,” said ER24 spokeswoman Vanessa Jackson.

Three suffered extensive burns to their faces, arms, hands and chests, while the fourth had relatively minor injuries.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. – Sapa

Chemical services business Omnia Holdings has announced the death of three employees following an explosion at its  BME Losberg cartridge production plant in the North West Province.
In addition, a further six employees were injured. All people who were at the scene of the incident have now been accounted for, the group said.

"Omnia is making available counsellors to its employees and the injured, as well as the families of the deceased and injured. Omnia expresses its sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased and injured employees," the group said.

Omnia said it had notified the relevant authorities and launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

The plant involved in the incident supplies Megamite to the underground mining market. The other plants at Losberg were not affected, the group concluded.

13 people have suffered smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a chemical factory in the Westmead area of Pinetown.


It's thought the fire started at the factory on the corner of Alexander and Clarke Roads just before 9am today.

While the cause of the blaze is unknown, firefighters have managed to extinguish the flames and are still on scene dampening down the building.

"When we arrived on scene, all workers from the factory already had been evacuated. We set up a triage area to examine all the workers," said ER24's Derrick Banks.

JOHANNESBURG - One person died and another was seriously injured in an industrial site accident in Durban on Monday, KwaZulu-Natal paramedics said.

The pair were replacing a chemical valve in Island View when they were injured, said Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha.

One worker died on scene and another was taken to hospital after sustaining chemical burns to his body.

Johannesburg - The Johannesburg Emergency Management Services Fire Safety Directorate has issued a notice to an ice manufacturer in Richards Street after a dangerous ammonia gas leak was reported on Tuesday.

"At approximately 10:00 this morning, our call centre received a frantic call from one of the business owners, operating in the same location, about an unusual gaseous odour emanating from a neighbouring factory," said spokesperson Percy Morokane.

"A Hazardous Materials Team (HAZMAT) was dispatched to the scene and all employees were evacuated.

"The team investigated, traced the source and the substance which was leaking was identified as ammonia."

The factory's manager was instructed to close the factory and he brought in their contracted technicians.

Cape Mail was evacuated on Friday morning after workers became ill and emergency calls were made to report a possible gass leak, the Cape Town disaster risk management centre said.

“Reports were received of persons that overcome by an alleged smell of gas and resulted in vomiting,” said centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

He said in a statement that city activated the necessary emergency response agencies to the incident in order to establish the source of the smell and to administer medical treatment.

The HazMat teams from the fire and rescue services established the smell was caused by broken ink cartridges and other items that were undelivered and not collected, and returned to Cape Mail, he said.

The fire and rescue, disaster risk management centre, Metro EMS, SAPS, Netcare, ER24, and Discovery Life were present at the scene.

Cape Town - A chemical laboratory at the University of the Cape Town was damaged when a fire broke out on Thursday morning, SABC radio news reported.

Nobody was injured during the blaze at the department of chemical engineering.

Fire and rescue services senior emergency communicator Winston Davids said three fire engines and a specialised vehicle which handles hazardous materials, were sent to deal with the chemicals inside the building.

He said it took more than two hours to extinguish the blaze.

The cause of the fire was being investigated. - Sapa