THERE IS DARKNESS IN ME NOW

Devastated family members relive the horror of the day their loved ones died in the Boksburg explosion

- MELON RADEBE & ISABEL VENTER

IT WAS like something from a movie: a tanker carrying 60 000 litres of liquid petroleum gets stuck under a bridge, leaking gas and spewing flames as a growing crowd gathers to watch.

And then there’s an almighty bang as the vehicle explodes, incinerating everything in its vicinity, damaging buildings, melting the skin off people and leaving death and horror in its wake.

For scores of people, Christmas Eve will forever be ruined, a reminder of the tragedy that robbed them of their loved ones.

Geraldo Geduld (50) suffered a double loss that terrible day: his wife, Elize (42), and son, Janeal (19), both died. Making things that much harder was the fact that a video of his boy begging for help at the scene was doing the rounds on social media before Geraldo even knew he’d been involved in the accident.

Geraldo, an engineer, lives in Gqeberha and had been planning to spend Christmas in Boksburg with Elize’s mom, Constance Theys. His 16-year-old daughter, Chante (16), chose to stay at home with other family members.

Geraldo was delivering a car to a customer in Hazyview, Mpumalanga, when a colleague called to check if his family was okay.

He tried to get hold of his wife and son, but no one answered.

“It was nerve-wracking,” he says. “I couldn’t get any information.”