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Was petrol tanker hijacked?
11/06/2003 12:14 - (SA)
Pretoria - Police were investigating claims that the petrol tanker which exploded on the N1 highway in Pretoria on Wednesday morning was hijacked on the East Rand the night before.
No criminal case had yet been reported, but investigators would interview the driver who claims to have been hijacked, said police spokesperson Captain Piletji Sebola.
"At this moment we are still in the dark."
Phillip Moyane, a senior controller of the transport company Tanker Services, claimed the vehicle was hijacked in Germiston shortly after 20:00 on Tuesday.
The driver, Daniel Tshabalala, was approaching a stop street when a BMW with Pietermaritzburg registration plates overtook the tanker and forced it to a standstill.
The occupants of the BMW hauled Tshabalala out of the tanker at gunpoint, covered his face with a piece of plastic, and put him in the BMW, Moyane said.
"They drove off with him and dropped him off on a farm in the Meyerton area. He does not know what happened to the tanker."
Moyane said the driver told him one of the men stayed behind to keep an eye on him on the farm. The man stayed until about 05:00, when he was picked up by a car.
After he left, Tshabalala walked to a nearby cafe where he phoned his employers.
Moyane said he fetched Tshabalala and took him to a clinic. He had no serious injuries - a cut under his left eye and a number of bruises.
"Once they are finished treating him, I will sit down with him and find out exactly what happened so that we can register a criminal case," Moyane said.
Tshabalala had been on his way to load diesel at a Caltex garage in Pretoria, which he would have taken to Pietersburg. The tanker was empty when hijacked, Moyane said.
Investigators at the scene of the tanker explosion had still found no trace of the "second" driver by 11:00.
Tshwane metro police spokesman Mel Vosloo said earlier reports from the scene that the driver had died, were now being questioned.
"We are not sure what happened to him. The fire brigade has been unable to find any remains."
The tanker exploded after slamming into a stationary bakkie in the emergency lane of the N1 highway near the Lynwood offramp about 03:00.
Vosloo said it appeared the driver then lost control of the vehicle, which jack-knifed and turned on its side before exploding.
The occupant of the bakkie was not injured.
The highway's three south-bound lanes were re-opened to traffic later in the morning, said emergency services spokesperson Johan Pieterse.
It was not known when the north-bound lanes would be reopened.
"It is possible that the road may have to be redone," Pieterse said. "It has been badly damaged and the tar is melted."
Motorists driving in a northern direction have been warned to avoid the N1.
Another petrol tanker exploded in the capital city on Tuesday morning after overturning at a traffic circle in Queenswood.
The driver of that tanker managed to escape before the truck burst into flames.
- SAPA
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