One man has died and three others were rushed to hospital following a suspected gas leak from a generator at a clothing store in Parow.
The smell of gas still hung thick in the air on Thursday, following the incident at Ye! Fashion store on the corner of Victoria and Station roads on Wednesday.
Curious mense watched as cops cordoned off a section of the area near the shop where the 40-year-old man and his three colleagues – all foreign nationals – were found unconscious on the floor by rescue workers late midday.
Peter Cloete, chairperson of the Parow Crime Fighters (Pacrif) (Pacrif), explained they were alerted about the incident around 5.40pm.
“It is alleged that the gas leak was caused by a generator in the shop that was left on during load shedding with no ventilation,” Cloete said.
“We believe that the incident happened between 12pm and 2pm.
“We are still trying to piece together what happened, because two ladies who were going to the shop saw the victims [two women and two men] lying on the floor and approached law enforcement for help.”
He said Pacrif were not allowed to enter the shop and had to wait for the hazmat medics to arrive.
Within a few minutes, according to Cloete, the medical staff came out carrying the victims and placed one of them on the ground before covering his face with a blanket.
He said things then went bos after a family member of the deceased ran to open the blanket to see his relative.
“The man fell to the ground and screamed. Cops had to pull him off the body and luckily they managed to calm him down, we all understand that emotions run in such moments,” Cloete added.
According to Pacrif, by 8.45pm the scene had been cleared and the shop closed.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed: “A post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.”The City’s Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Jermaine Carelse said that crews from Goodwood, Belhar and Bellville were dispatched to the scene.
“The first arriving officer confirmed a strong smell of gas [carbon monoxide]and the hazmat vehicle was requested,” Carelse explained.
“Firefighters donned SCBA [self-contained breathing apparatus] sets to retrieve the victims from the building.
“The two women and one man were transported to nearby hospitals. The second man was declared deceased.”