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- The SA Medical Association says patients from the Tambo Memorial Hospital were moved to public and private healthcare facilities for treatment.
- This after a deadly explosion left parts of Tambo Memorial Hospital damaged.
- Nine people died and several injured after a truck carrying gas caught fire in Boksburg.
The South African Medical Association (Sama) has confirmed that patients involved in a gas explosion were evacuated from the Tambo Memorial Hospital’s emergency unit to public and private healthcare facilities for treatment.
The move comes after several people were injured on Saturday morning when a truck tanker carrying gas caught alight in Boksburg, killing nine and injuring several others. The truck tanker caught alight after it scraped the top of its roof while driving under a low-lying bridge about 100 metres from the hospital.
Sama spokesperson, Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa, told News24 Tambo Memorial Hospital had to move patients that were already there and could not accommodate new ones.
“The doctors only stabilised new patients before transferring them to other institutions. They asked other hospitals to accept them directly from ambulances,” he said.
“We have been informed that patients were transferred to [private] hospitals. This is an emergency, and it has to be attended by public and private hospitals, whoever is closest to the incident.”
READ | Deadly Boksburg blast: Truck owner struggling to find driver as emergency workers jump in
Mzukwa said the association had not received reports confirming if any doctors died or sustained injuries due to the explosion.
While the association has not been called on to provide additional help, Mzukwa encouraged off-duty doctors to assist Tambo Memorial Hospital to ensure “no patient dies because colleagues are overwhelmed”.
He said:
We reached out to colleagues to find out if they needed help, and so far, they have come back to say not at this point because the patients were transferred to other facilities and therefore, there was nothing at this stage. I am not sure if things will change, but at this point, they said they are coping well.
Addressing the media from the hospital on Saturday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the truck was travelling from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal to Botswana. He said it was unclear how it got to Boksburg.
Innovative Staffing Solutions (ISS), of which the truck driver is a member, said it had launched an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
READ | Multiple deaths in Boksburg tanker explosion, 50 injured and serious infrastructure damage
“ISS’ internal investigation has already established that the driver is highly experienced, with a professional driving qualification in working at heights and seven years of experience transporting hazardous materials.
“The driver had also recently passed a medical test confirming his fitness to drive,” the company said.
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