The city manager of Johannesburg has ruled out the possibility that illegal mining was responsible for Wednesday’s gas explosion.
Floyd Brink, who was providing technical updates on their investigation Friday afternoon, said their investigation shows that no humans live in the tunnels that run in the underbelly of the CBD.
He showed media photos taken by a drone inside the tunnels, stressing that the explosion was caused by gas and not illegal mining.
“With the drones being sent underground, nobody lives in the tunnels because there is water. So, it’s not a case of Zama-Zamas or Nyaub boys cutting cables. It was pure gas.”
he He said since it is not safe to go underground, experts have not yet determined the source of the gas leak. The confirmation comes after experts claimed there was a high probability that illegal mining had caused the disaster, which left 48 injured and one person dead.