Johannesburg - Two men were critically injured in a freak accident that saw a transformer they were working on explode.
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said the explosion happened on Sunday night at about 8.20pm at the Monash University campus in Roodepoort.
“Reports indicate the two men were working on the transformer when a flashover occurred,” he said.
A flashover is a large burst of high voltage energy that creates high temperatures that can cause severe burns if exposed to it.
He said when Netcare 911 paramedics arrived at the scene, they found that one man had sustained 50 percent burns while the other had sustained 20 percent burns.
“Both sustained burns to their upper bodies. Medics worked fervently to stabilise the men at the scene and then airlifted the one critically injured patient with the Netcare helicopter while the other patient was transported by ambulance to a specialised facility for the care that they required,” he said.
The Star