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BOKSBURG, South Africa.— The death toll from a toxic gas leak that authorities blamed on an illegal gold processing operation in South Africa rose to 17, including three children, as police removed canisters from a community of closely packed shacks and sifted through evidence yesterday.
The leak of what authorities said was a toxic nitrate gas happened Wednesday night in the informal Angelo settlement in Boksburg, a city on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg.
The three children who died were ages 1, 6 and 15, police said. At least 10 people were hospitalised, including a 2-month-old baby, two 4 year olds and a 9 year old, according to Panyaza Lesufi, the premier of Gauteng province, who gave an update yesterday.
A statement from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said it was a “devastating and tragic loss of innocent lives.”
Bodies remained on the ground, some of them covered in sheets or blankets, for hours after the gas leak was reported around 8pm on Wednesday. – AP
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