Boksburg Explosion: Nurse Died After Trying to Save Her Car: “She Could Have Just Left This Thing”, Mourns Son

• The son of the nurse who died after trying to save her car from the Boksburg blast wishes she let the car burn
• Susan Maxakaza was caught in the blast when she went outside to move her car on Christmas Eve
• The death toll from the devastating blast has risen to 27 as more victims succumb to their wounds

JOHANNESBURG - The son of one of the Boksburg blast victims says his mother would have survived if only she let her car burn.

Susan Maxakaza was a nurse who worked at the OR Tambo Memorial Hospital for over 20 years. On the day of the deadly explosion, Maxakaza went outside to move her car and was caught in the second blast.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Maxakaza's son, Keamogetswe Maxakaza, said he wished his mother had not cared about her car at that moment.

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Keamogetswe said:

"She could have just left this thing, then she would have still been here.”

After being caught in the Christmas Eve explosion, Maxakaza was transferred to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital where the nurse later succumbed to her wounds on Monday, 26 December.

Keamogetswe said he was struggling to come to terms with the abruptness of his mother's passing. The traumatised 27-year-old added he always knew the day would come but never thought his mother would die in the manner she did.

The deadly explosion happened after a gas tanker transporting liquid petroleum got lodged under a low-lying bridge and caught fire. The death toll of the subsequent explosion has risen to 27 and nurses, firefighters, children, and civilians are among those who died, EWN reported.

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Here's what South Africans had to say:

@pmatsepane claimed:

"She stood longer at the bridge before it exploded. She had enough time to reverse the car and get away. She chose to stay and take pictures."

@PrincessNerlee commented:

"The love for materialistic things is never encouraged."

@ephymol14 mourned:

"Very sad."

@JonoRoxs added:

"What a tragedy this Boksburg story is."

@jimmyphilipd said:

"Shame."

Boksburg explosion: Panyaza Lesufi considering commission of inquiry after gas tanker driver walks free

In a related story, Briefly News reported that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is considering a commission of inquiry into the devastating Boksburg explosion after the gas tanker driver whose actions led to the incident was released from police custody.

Lesufi said on Wednesday, 28 December that the commission will be established if law enforcement takes too long with the investigation and prosecution.

The Gauteng premier said that he questioned the police's decision to release the gas tanker driver. Lesufi found out that the investigators didn't have enough evidence to persuade a judge that the state had a case, TimesLIVE reported.

Source: Briefly News