Authorities evacuated around 306 people within the radius of a dangerous chemical spill at a company in the Cape Winelands on Thursday. Western Cape Disaster Management were tasked with containing a dangerous Oleum chemical spill in the Kranskop area near Wellington.
Farms within a three-kilometer radius of the chemical spill were evacuated as a precaution in case the sulphuric acid formed a dangerous gas cloud.
The leak happened 20 kilometers from the town of Wellington and the evacuation measures only concerned surrounding farms and not residential areas.
Oleum is a sulphuric acid often used for transportation, organic chemical research and for creating explosives.
By Thursday evening, authorities confirmed that the leak was fully stabilised and residents could return to their homes.
According to a statement by the Drakenstein Municipality, around 306 people residing within a 3km radius of the Rheinmetall Denel Munition outside Wellington were evacuated, among those was a two-month-old baby who was admitted to Paarl Hospital.
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