Explosion at Eskom power station

10 October 2018 - 19:22
By Nico Gous
There was an explosion on Wednesday afternoon at unit five of Eskom’s Lethabo power station near Viljoensdrif in the Free State.
Image: Supplied There was an explosion on Wednesday afternoon at unit five of Eskom’s Lethabo power station near Viljoensdrif in the Free State.

Eskom employees have been injured in an explosion at its Lethabo power station near Viljoensdrif in the Free State on Wednesday.

Eskom confirmed it is investigating what it called a “major incident” at unit five of the power station.

“We can confirm that there are injuries but cannot confirm further details at this stage. Management's first priority is to ensure the safety of all staff on site‚” the power utility tweeted.

Energy expert Chris Yelland tweeted that a boiler had exploded after a generator tripped.

“Eskom confirms only Unit 5 at Lethabo is down after a generator trip followed by a loud boiler explosion. The other five units at Eskom’s Lethabo power station are still operating‚ but staff have been evacuated as much as possible as a precautionary measure. [The] situation ‘calm’ at the moment.”