The aftermath of the weekend’s deadly gas tanker explosion, a protest against alleged racism at a holiday resort and the busting of a vehicle smuggling ring dominated newsstands in South Africa on Tuesday.
According to online news outlet News24, families of victims of the December 24 gas truck explosion near Johannesburg are now facing the agonising task of having to identify their relatives who died as a result of the horrific blast.
It said the Gauteng Department of Health was providing counselling services to affected families as they made their way to the mortuary at the Germiston forensic pathology services to identify their loved ones.
The number of fatalities from the accident has increased to 18, including eight nurses and a driver from Tambo Memorial Hospital that was affected by the explosion in the suburb of Plantation.
Independent Online reported that the tragedy has lead to calls for stricter measures to ensure the safe management of transport of dangerous goods and the routes taken by drivers.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) also reported that six people had died on Monday following a head-on collision between a gas tanker and a bakkie in Limpopo province’s Vhembe District.
The tanker driver told the SABC that he suspected that the bakkie driver was asleep as he saw him veer off his lane and come directly at the tanker.
News24 carried a report on Monday’s protest by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) against an alleged racist attack against two black teens on Christmas Day by white men at a resort in Free State province.
The EFF members said they had come to the resort to express their anger following the incident that involved several white men allegedly attacking the two teens.
A video of the apparently racially-motivated confrontation has gone viral on social media. In the video, a group of white men is seen attacking two black boys in an attempt to prevent them from using the swimming pool at the resort.
Another major story in the South African press on Tuesday was the arrest of two alleged vehicle smugglers who had attempted to avoid police roadblocks by masquerading as holidaymakers and using roads that pass through the Kruger National Park on their way to Mozambique with stolen vehicles.
They were intercepted after the vehicles’ tracking systems alerted the police.
JN/APA