One person was killed last Thursday afternoon – and a 3 km radius precautionary blast zone cordoned off – after a head-on collision between a car and a liquid-petroleum gas tanker.
The driver of the car, Bessie Bester, a well-known businessman of Brackenfell, was declared dead on the scene. The tanker was transporting 10 000 litres of LPG north of Cape Town. The collision happened on the R27 outside Mamre.
Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith confirmed the incident. The City’s fire-and-rescue team was despatched, along with technical rescue personnel. “Paramedics responded to the patients within the blast zone, but sadly the driver of the passenger motor vehicle was declared deceased on the scene,” he said.
The fire-and-rescue team worked within the blast zone to ensure the hull of the tanker had not been compromised and confirmed there was no presence of LP vapour. “The tanker, which had been carrying nearly 10 tons of LPG, was secured and the scene made safe,” Smith related.
“Specialised technical rescue equipment had to be used to ensure the potential of sparking was prevented. Rescue staff remained on the scene, waiting for the contractor to decant the LP gas from the overturned vehicle, after which a heavy-duty-vehicle recovery was performed.
“This along with two fire-engines and an additional two tankers that remained on the scene, accompanied by our specialised technical rescue vehicles, including the heavy-duty crane lift.” The R27, closed to traffic during the recovery operation, has been reopened.
