Two people injured in Woodstock superette fire die in hospital

An explosion from a building at the corner of Plein and Victoria Streets in Woodstock occurred on Thursday. Picture: Tracey Adams African News Agency (ANA)

An explosion from a building at the corner of Plein and Victoria Streets in Woodstock occurred on Thursday. Picture: Tracey Adams African News Agency (ANA)

Published Sep 26, 2022

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Cape Town - Two people injured in a fire that erupted inside an eatery on the corner of Plein and Victoria Streets in Woodstock have died in hospital.

One of the men was the owner of SR Superette Retail and Wholesale shop, the other an employee.

Both were admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital after sustaining 70% to 100% burn wounds but died on Saturday. A fire that broke out in the outlet was followed by several secondary explosions. A vehicle was also damaged.

Groote Schuur Hospital spokesperson Alaric Jacobs confirmed the deaths but could not divulge their cause.

Preliminary investigations however indicated that the fire was caused by a gas leak after two 48kg gas canisters were found on the premises.

The City said the use of 48kg gas bottles inside premises was in contravention of safety by-laws as only bottles up to 19kg were allowed. It said this was only allowed if the canister was installed and used correctly and operated under a valid certificate of compliance.

The gas canisters were found still intact and not far from a two-plate gas cooker. This, the City said, showed a possibility that gas was used for cooking purposes.

However, the City said to date no complaints had been received regarding fire safety-related aspects at the eatery. It said neighbouring take-away shops were not affected by the fire, but only suffered smoke damage, with slight damage to a dividing wall.

Elsewhere, a building next to the Woodstock train station caught fire on Saturday.

Prasa spokesperson Zino Mihi said the customer services mess room was an old building that was now illegally occupied by vagrants.

“According to the report from our Protection Services team, they saw big smoke coming from the old building. The Fire and Rescue team was called to the scene and they extinguished the fire yesterday afternoon. The scene was cleared by 3.16pm,” she said.

Mihi said no injuries were reported.

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Cape Argus