Passengers stuck in darkness at OR Tambo

Travelers at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg were left in the dark after a transformer went up in flames in Kempton Park on Sunday morning.

Eskom confirmed that the transformer caught alight in Ekurhuleni, causing outages in the surrounding areas.

‘Eskom’s transformer in Kempton Park caught fire affecting @City_Ekurhuleni customers. Ekurhuleni Emergency Services on site,’ Eskom tweeted.

An Eskom substation supplying power to the City’s 66kV and 132kV networks is on fire, resulting in no power to Aston Manor, Cargo and Spartan substations in Kempton Park. pic.twitter.com/P6lZbdgwRl

— CITY OF EKURHULENI (@City_Ekurhuleni) January 12, 2020

As a result, power to the country’s biggest airport was cut, leaving those inside in darkness and confusion for much of the morning, with the airport confirming that power had been restored at around 2pm.

Some of the airport’s functions were effected by the blackout, with those arriving on flights having their baggage delayed, long check-in queues for flights and trouble navigating the airport.

@ortambo_int
Totally in darkness well to South Africa pic.twitter.com/mqEQKv3RS4

— Richard Whalley (@old_merc_guy) January 12, 2020

@ortambo_int any idea wtf is going on with the pure darkness in international arrivals??? pic.twitter.com/5B8X0rBO6L

— Noob_Noonz (@noob_noonz) January 12, 2020

Image: Twitter/Richard Whalley

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