Cape Town - Three South African National Defence Force members died as heroes on Friday when they leaped into a 5m-deep pit filled with methane gas to try to rescue workers who were doing repairs to a storage pump.
Another 26 naval officers were also affected by the gas when they joined the rescue attempt. They were taken to hospitals around Durban.
The incident at midday yesterday was the third this week involving deaths of military personnel, ahead of Armed Forces Day, which is to take place at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday.
A military official died when a tank he was seated in, on top of a military truck, was involved in a crash while on the way to Durban.
On Wednesday, a submarine lieutenant drowned while swimming at Battery Beach.
Last night, National Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant offered condolences to the families and friends of the victims of what has been described as a “freak accident” at the naval base.
SANDF spokesperson Brigadier-General Mafi Mogobozi said a full investigation by military police and SAPS was under way.
“Three uniformed members rushed to the pit to try to assist the Public Works members who were struggling to breathe underground.
“Unfortunately the SANDF members who responded to the call to save their countrymen were exposed to high levels of methane gas and succumbed.”
After the incident yesterday, social media went into overdrive, with many warnings being shared, including alerts of an explosion at the naval base, as well as requests by police in the area for people “to switch off their cellphones and abandon their vehicles”.
This could not be confirmed as the local SAPS Media Centre referred all queries to the SANDF.
By early afternoon, there was a traffic backlog into the Bluff area where the naval base is
situated and military police were seen stationed along different freeways.
Emergency services personnel who attended the scene were tight-lipped about the incident.
KwaZulu-Natal Emergency Services spokesperson Ceron Lennox said: “The events leading up to the incident are unknown.”
Rescue Care spokesperson Garrith Jamieson said: “The place is under strict control. No media will be allowed into the naval base.”
ER24’s Russel Meiring said: “Rescue teams had already retrieved six bodies from the pit.
“Details surrounding this incident are not yet known, but local authorities are on the scene for further investigation.”
Last night, the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Defence Secretary Sam Galube and SANDF chief, General Solly Shoke, expressed their condolences to the families and friends of the deceased, whose names have not been released.
The incident took place just after the armed forces had finished the final rehearsal for a display taking place on Durban’s beachfront this morning, ahead of a weekend of events for the public before Armed Forces Day on Tuesday.
It will see President Jacob Zuma receive the salute from the SANDF during a military parade.