South Africa’s Tshwane emergency services said that a fully-loaded tanker, with 55,000 liters of petrol, exploded and emitted a huge fireball into the air at the Watlou depot in Silverton, News 24 reported.

Total South Africa confirmed that the fuel delivery truck caught fire in the parking area outside the Waltloo terminal in Pretoria. The company’s spokesperson, Nadia Vosloo, said: “as health‚ safety and the environment is of the utmost importance to Total‚ our emergency response management was immediately activated. The emergency services were called to the scene‚ the area was cordoned off and the fire extinguished‚“ according to Times LIVE.

The fire caused the top of the first trailer to rupture, as it spread to the second trailer. Firefighters attended the scene and were able to use foam lines to cool down the fires and eventually extinguish them. However, some of the petrol did leak into drains and onto the roadway but environmental management teams attended to the scene of the accident.