At least one person has died after an LPG gas tanker caught alight on the N12 near the Comaro Road off-ramp in southern Johannesburg on Sunday morning.
A light motor vehicle reportedly collided with the stationary truck in the early hours, trapping and killing the driver of the vehicle. The truck driver escaped uninjured.
The crash shut down the highway in both directions for several hours.
Emergency services on the scene declared it highly hazardous due to the risk of explosion.
“We have contained the fire. We’re cooling down the gas tanker. So while we cool down, we are also waiting to reduce the pressure in the gas of the tank,” The City of Johannesburg Emergency Services spokesperson, Kagiso Phasha, said.
A purported video of the aftermath of the collision showed the truck blaze, in front of a hollowed-out vehicle.
JUST IN received 09:29 19 April 2026: The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) advises motorists of a major incident on the N12 Highway in the Bassonia area where a gas tanker has caught fire on the N12 West just before the Comaro Road off-ramp and due to the… pic.twitter.com/1D5MoGfXjQ
– SA REPORTS (@MARIUSBROODRYK) April 19, 2026
Motorists have been urged to avoid the area and detour using the following routes:
- N12 Westbound (Heading toward Soweto): Traffic will be diverted at the R59 Reading Interchange.
- N12 Eastbound (Heading toward Alberton): Traffic will be diverted at Kliprivier Drive.
- M1 North/South via the Booysens area.
- R59 through Alberton.
- Kliprivier Drive as a local bypass through the Southern Suburbs
This is a developing story
