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.
WATCH: The truck on fire
@CityofJoburgEMS Firefighters are currently attending to an accident reported along N12 Comaro involving a LPG Tanker motorists are urged to avoid the area instead use alternative routes. @CoJPublicSafety #JoburgBravest pic.twitter.com/NmrvqhwFN6
– City of Joburg EMS (@CityofJoburgEMS) April 19, 2026
What roads to use instead
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
