Soldiers die from gas leak at Naval base in Durban

Date: 17 Feb 2017
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

On 17 February 2017, six people were killed and more than a dozen injured at the Salisbury Island Naval base in Durban. Three of the six people involved were South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers, while the other three were part of a team contracted to do work at the naval base. The accident was as a result of an unexpected gas leak. The men had reportedly been underground and working in a partially flooded shaft inside a neglected building at the naval base when the gas leak occurred.

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01Jeff Wicks. Sowetan live. Three soldiers die in ‘freak’ gas leak at Durban naval base. [Online]. [Available: https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2017/02/17/update-three-soldiers-die-in-freak-gas-leak-at-durban-naval-base].. [Accessed : 18 February 2017].
02Jeff Wicks.Herald live. Six people die in ‘freak accident’ at Durban’s naval base. [Online].[Available: https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2017/02/17/breaking-several-dead-apparent-gas-leak-durban-harbour]. [Accessed: 18 February 2017].

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2017, March 1). Soldiers die from gas leak at Naval base in Durban . South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0122945

South African History Online (2017) 'Soldiers die from gas leak at Naval base in Durban ', South African History Online, 1 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0122945 (Accessed: 17 August 2026).

South African History Online, Soldiers die from gas leak at Naval base in Durban [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0122945, (accessed 17 August 2026).

"Soldiers die from gas leak at Naval base in Durban ." South African History Online, 1 Mar. 2017, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0122945. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Soldiers die from gas leak at Naval base in Durban ." South African History Online. March 1, 2017. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0122945.