A man was injured at an explosion at an electricity substation in Westdene in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, the electricity distributor Centlec said.
”We are still investigating the cause of the explosion,” said Zolile Lobe, chief executive of Centlec.
The injured man was a Centlec employee.
The substation is in Second Avenue in Westdene next to the Victoria Square shopping centre.
Lobe said the damage to the substation is also still being investigated.
”It’s a substation with a capacity of 15MW distribution. We have salvaged about 10MW.”
Lobe hoped to have restored the electricity supply in full by 4pm.
Electricity failures did occur in the Westdene area surrounding Second Avenue, which includes the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic hospital.
”The hospital was affected but within five minutes they were back, we were able to feed them with an alternative supply,” said Lobe.
The condition of the injured man was not known.
He was conducting routine maintenance at the time of the explosion. — Sapa