“It was a massive explosion, within a kilometre radius there were windows that have been blown and vehicles damaged,” said spokesman Percy Morokane.<\/p>\n
“It shook the whole ground.”<\/p>\n
The explosion in the Telkom building happened after 8am on the corner of Hunter and Kenmere street. <\/p>\n
It left a five by 15m hole in the ground. A manhole cover was blown about 500m away.<\/p>\n
The explosion happened above ground but “it’s very much unclear what happened”, said Morokane.<\/p>\n
“It is believed that there were two people in the nearby vicinity, one was a Telkom employee in a very critical condition, the other was a woman who is being treated for shock,” he said.<\/p>\n
Both were taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
Morokane said search and rescue teams and dog sniffer units were searching for a third person who was believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.<\/p>\n
Morokane referred further questions to Telkom. The company could not immediately comment and said it would issue a statement.<\/p>\n
Telkom statement<\/strong><\/p>\n A municipal transformer at Telkom’s exchange in Yeoville, Johannesburg, exploded earlier this morning. Two injuries can be confirmed at this time.<\/em><\/p>\n A small segment of our voice, data and DSL customers in the Yeoville area are impacted. 60 mobile links are also affected. <\/em><\/p>\n