On Saturday ER24 received several reports via their Emergency Contact Centre in Johannesburg from people explaining that extremely strong winds destroyed informal settlements as well as structures in Oranjeville, Welkom, Kestle, Reitz and Bloemfontein.
Although the reports could not be confirmed at the time, ER24 contacted the local disaster response units in the respective areas to confirm the information.
ER24 responded to a holiday resort in Oranjeville and found six people that were injured when a building structure collapsed during strong winds. One person was killed and the other five were transported to a local hospital for various injuries.
Earlier ER24 also attended to a bus accident outside the Bethlehem where reports were received that extremely strong winds moved through the area. Paramedics that arrived on the scene found 58 people injured and four fatalities on the scene. All the patients were transported to various hospitals in the area. It could not be confirmed if the accident could be directly related to the strong winds.
Paramedics also reported that numerous informal settlements were damaged in Kestle and in Welkom. No injuries have been reported.
Paramedics in the Free State and parts of Gauteng are on standby to assist the local rescue services.
For more photos of the storm, visit our online gallery at http://bit.ly/Msmfc3
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