[3][6][7] According to his employer, on the morning of 24 December 2022, having spent the night at a nearby truck stop, the 32 year-old driver took a wrong turn[7][8] and tried to return to his route; the route he used took him under a railway bridge spanning Hospital Street near its intersection with Railway Street, about 100 metres (330 ft) from the Tambo Memorial Hospital in the Boksburg suburb of Plantation.

This met with limited success despite assistance from a private security guard who happened to drive onto the scene, as well as two bystanders who realised the potential danger.

Having caught fire, it burst in a massive boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) at approximately 07:05 am SAST while firefighters were still trying to contain the blaze.

[22] The explosion resulted in the ceiling of the emergency unit partially collapsing which necessitated all patients being moved to the theatre complex at the back of the hospital.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) announced the following day that it would assess the extent of the damage, and the scope of the work necessary to restore the railway line.

A number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Muslim Aid and the South African disaster relief NGO Gift of the Givers, arrived to assist throughout the day.

The driver of the tanker survived the incident and initially faced multiple charges, including culpable homicide, which were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

[32][33][34] Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi expressed disappointment at the dropping of charges against the driver, and asked the police and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to swiftly re-instate them.

He told the press that he had been re-assured that police and prosecutors were still building a stronger case against the driver, against whom he suggested harsher charges would be instated by 30 December 2022.

[35] However, Lesufi's claims were contradicted by Henk Strydom, the senior state prosecutor at Boksburg Magistrate's Court, who said that the decision to release the driver was taken solely by the SAPS, and not in consultation with the NPA.

[3] A municipal report later stated that the sign was legible and photos of the area taken during recent flooding showed that it had been affixed to the bridge prior to the explosion.

[3] ISS, the company that sourced the driver on behalf of Infinite Transport, began an "internal and independent" investigation into the circumstances surrounding the explosion, which concluded on 29 December.

[42] Various government officials and South African political parties have reacted to the explosion with condolences to the families of the victims and well-wishes toward the injured, and in some cases calls for changes in response to the disaster.