Man May Lose His Arm After Explosion

A man was filling Fire Extinguishers from the back of his bakkie outside of a business on Francis Road in Anderbolt, Boksburg. One of the cylinders he was apparently filling exploded in his hands.

When ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene the man's injuries were being assessed, and they noted that his right arm was severely deformed with a large open wound and significant amount of tissue damage to the area. The man was is a state of shock, and he did not know what had happened. All he could tell paramedics was that he had heard a loud bang, and that he could not feel his right arm. Emergency personnel gave the man medication for his pain before they stabilised his injured arm and strapped it to a splint. The damage was critical, as paramedics determined that most of the blood flow to his arm had stopped, and he could not feel it or move it. That's when they decided the best thing to do was to phone for the Medicopter.

ER24's Discovery Medicopter airlifted the thirty five year old man from the scene, and were at a state facility in Johannesburg's West Rand in less than ten minutes. He was stable en route to hospital, but paramedics said he was in a somber mood, seemingly drowsy from the pain medication. According to the flight crew who transported the man, a team of Specialists were already waiting at the hospital to assess the man's injuries.

Although all attempts will be made to save the man's arm, unfortunately if the damage is too severe it may have to be amputated.

There were no other reports of injury to bystanders during the incident.