Photo: Screenshot from video.
WATCH: Denel explosion turns Cape Town skies orange
An explosion lit up Cape Town’s skies late on Sunday night after a fire broke out at the Rheinmetall Denel munitions plant in Somerset West. No injuries were reported. Eight people died in a blast at the same plant in 2018.
Photo: Screenshot from video.
A fireball lit up the Cape Town sky at approximately 23:00 on Sunday night, 31 October, after a fire caused an explosion at the Rheinmetall Denel munitions factory in the Western Cape. The state-owned arms company reported no injuries.
ANOTHER DENEL EXPLOSION
According to Denel, the fire broke out last night in a building at its Somerset West site. The company’s internal fire department and the City of Cape Town’s fire services managed to contain the blaze to just the N86 magazine building.
Denel said no injuries or casualties were reported and the cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
“A thorough investigation will be conducted to determine the events leading up to the fire. We will share further information as it becomes available to us,” said Jan-Patrick Helmsen, the CEO of Rheinmetall Denel Munitions.
A camera from the Western traffic centre recorded the blast at the munitions facility and shows a bright fireball streaking into the sky; CCTV footage also shows how the explosion turned the sky an ominous orange colour for several seconds. People from across the city took to social media to share their sightings of the flash.
Eight people were killed in an explosion at the same facility in 2018. The health and safety protocols of the plant have been under scrutiny since and the families of the deceased have called on the government to suspend the plant’s explosives license.
An inquiry into what happened in the 2018 incident is currently underway.
