Four electricians of the Sol Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley were injured when an explosion occurred in a substation in the city.
The electricians were attending to a cable fault at the Hercules Street substation at about 09:00 on Monday, 13 May, when the explosion occurred.
They were rushed to hospital for immediate medical attention for their burn injuries, stated Thabo Mothibi, municipal spokesperson. One of them is critically injured.
The municipal manager, Thapelo Matlala, and senior managers paid a visit to three of the injured in hospital and met with the family of the critically injured colleague.
The Department of Labour conducted an assessment at the substation, after which it was handed back to the municipality for repair work to unfold.
A power outage due to the circumstances surrounding the explosion, was experienced in parts of Herlear and Beaconsfield.
By Monday afternoon the isolation of neighbouring substations has been done with only a few streets surrounding the Hercules Street substation that were still without power.
Mothibi said intensive cleaning of the substation unfolded on Monday evening as the explosion involved the spillage of oil. A new ring main unit has been installed. It was estimated that the power supply to the affected streets was most likely to be restored in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
