Attempted petrol theft leads to road closure in Tshwane
The attempted theft of petrol from a Transnet pipeline in Tshwane led to the closure of Simon Vermooten and Nellmapius on Wednesday morning.
An unknown number of suspects attempted to steal the petrol around 10pm on Tuesday night.
The attempted theft led to a spillage, which in turn led to the closure of the two roads.
Tshwane emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso says the thieves left open one of the valves.
“It’s not an oil spillage, it’s a petrol spillage, and the petrol spillage took place on a Transnet pipeline, according to the information we are receiving from the scene. It looks as if there was an attempt to steal Transnet petrol on the pipeline and the valve was left open.
“Information we are receiving is that the petrol has been coming out of the valve since around ten last night. Emergency services were informed early this morning. Due to the petrol that has spilled and due to the risk of ignition we had to close Pretoria road between Simon Vermooten and Nellmapius.”
Mabaso says the road will hopefully be reopened to traffic in the afternoon.
“Transnet is busy suctioning the petrol that has leaked at the moment, or that is still leaking, to be able to close the valve.
“The estimated time, according to a Transnet representative on scene, is that they estimate they will be able to close the valve at around 15:00. We are anticipating a longer road closure around this area.”