A man is fighting for his life in the Netcare Milpark Hospital after he was critically injured in a chemical explosion at a factory in Waltloo, Pretoria, this morning.
The cause of the incident and the series of events preceding it remain uncertain and will form the subject of a department of labour inspectorate investigation.
Common cause information suggests that the man had been welding sheet metal when the flame came into contact with a drum containing a flammable solvent. The drum exploded and caused a fire in the factory. The force of the explosion threw the man backwards.
Netcare911 Paramedics arrived at the scene to find the man in a critical condition, having sustained severe burn wounds to ninety percent of his body. They immediately initiated care, and called for the assistance of the trauma team aboard the Netcare1 Aeromedical Helicopter.
The chopper landed in the roadway and the man was stabilised further. He was airlifted to the Netcare Milpark Hospital for specialist treatment.