DURBAN - Emergency services were called out to three separate burn incidents in Durban over the weekend where four people sustained burn injuries.
Marshall Security spokesperson Andreas Mathios said on Sunday morning eThekwini Fire Department and Marshall Security responded to a call after and off-duty fireman travelling on Umgeni Road spotted a man with severe burns.
He said a Metro Police Search and Rescue team arrived and assisted the injured man. Metro police also assisted on scene with traffic control as additional resources began arriving to assist the critically injured patient.
“Paramedics managed to stabilise the man at the scene and then he was taken to an awaiting ambulance and was transported to a medical facility for the further care that he required,” Mathios said.
He also said the circumstances around the incident would be investigated.
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said Search and Rescue members were called to the vicinity of the Connaught Bridge.
“On arrival members discovered an African man with deep tissue burns over approximately 80% of his body. Together with the fire department, members were able to cover most of the burns while awaiting arrival of EMS,” Sewpersad said.
He said when the ambulance service arrived, the patient was loaded into the ambulance and rushed to Addington Hospital for further critical care.
“It is alleged the man had been stealing overhead copper cables and he fell into a substation but he was not burnt in the substation, he was burnt through electrocution from the copper cables,” Sewpersad said.
Meanwhile, on Saturday evening, Netcare 911 responded to an explosion at a resident in Umhlanga Ridge, north of Durban.
“When medics arrived on scene, they found that two adults and a minor had sustained serious burn wounds from an unknown highly flammable liquid that caught alight next to a fireplace, resulting in the container bursting into flames,” Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said.
He said all three patients were treated by Netcare 911 emergency workers and once stabilised, were transported to hospital for further care.
In another incident, a man was killed after he was electrocuted by an illegal connection in oThongathi around midday on Saturday.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said their officers and medics were immediately called to the scene where they found a man lying on a pathway and was declared dead by medics.
“According to witnesses, the man was walking along the pathway when he slipped. He allegedly grabbed onto a wire fence which became electrified due to exposed electricity cables making contact with the fence. He held onto the fence until he became unresponsive,” Balram said.
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