Azuendene Davhola, 44, suffered broken ribs and an injury to her hip and right hand when the taxi she was riding in after an explosion flew underground on Bree Street on Wednesday.
The mother-of-three, a City Power security guard at a warehouse in Braamfontein, was sitting on the front seat of her taxi when she was suddenly lifted into the air by the force of the blast and landed back on her wheels on the cracked tarmac.
“I just heard a loud bang and then something hit me in the upper body. My body was compressed. I don’t remember much of what happened next, but I saw other passengers trying to escape from the taxi. I felt dizzy, I don’t even remember how I managed to get out of the wreckage. I’m still shaking but I’m glad I’m alive,” said Davola from Freedom Park, south of Joburg.
She said she was taken to Dr. S.K. Matzek Memorial Hospital in Soweto around 8 p.m., where she was treated and admitted overnight.
“I still can’t walk properly. I’m on painkillers and it’s going to take me a while to get back to work,” said Davola, who has been with the company for four years.
The blast, which caused cracks in the roads near the taxi stand on Bury Street, occurred around 5pm on Wednesday when most people were preparing to go home.
The explosion claimed one life, and injured approximately 50 people. This was confirmed by the Prime Minister of Gauteng, Banyaza Lesotho, during a media briefing yesterday morning.