A popular Cape Flats supermarket has burnt out in a blast after several gas tanks exploded.
Three Pakistani nationals who work and sleep inside Bona Superette in Victoria Road, Grassy Park, escaped through the front door, while two men trapped in the storeroom at the back were rescued by firefighters.
After the blast, which happened at 3am on Saturday morning, the injured workers were treated for burn wounds at Victoria Hospital, and were released later on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Bona Superette won’t be operating for the next few weeks as owner Golam Mostafa rebuilds his business.
Golam yesterday admitted that he didn’t have insurance, and will have to pay for repairs out of his own pocket.
Luckily for customers, Bona Fast Foods, located right next door, wasn’t damaged.
Resident Collin Cloete says he woke up at 3am on Saturday morning to the sound of “explosions” under his flat, located on top of the store.
He rushed out to find three fire trucks trying to extinguish the fire that had engulfed the popular winkel.
He quickly returned, waking up his neighbours, his mother and sister who lives with him.
“Everyone started to remove all their things in a panic, their fridges, flat screen TVs and children,” Cloete explains.
It’s believed the “explosions” were caused by the heated gas canisters in the fridges.
Cloete, however, suspects the building was petrol-bombed.
He explains that on Friday, at about 6pm, a car was stolen outside the superette, and this was caught on the security cameras.
He thinks the skelms came back to destroy any footage that might incriminate them.
But Golam dismissed the claims, saying the fire was started by an electrical fault caused by old and broken wiring.
Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesman Theo Layne says the cause of the fire is still being investigated.