At least 24 folks have died in South Africa attributable to a suspected fuel leak, native media reported.

The state-owned broadcaster SABC mentioned the incident occurred within the district of Boksburg, close to the town of Johannesburg.

A search operation was ongoing.

A spokesperson for the native catastrophe and emergency administration providers, William Ntladi, instructed SABC: "For now the number [of fatalities] is 24.

"Once the scene unfolds all through the evening we'll include precise numbers by way of fatalities and by way of the casualties which were hospitalised."

Mr Ntladi mentioned girls and kids have been believed to be among the many useless.

Local reviews mentioned the incident might have been linked to suspected unlawful mining actions, however Mr Ntladi mentioned it was not but identified.

"Whether the illegal miners are among the deceased, that is not yet known," Mr Ntladi mentioned.

Content Source: information.sky.com