Tanker blast victims are mourned in South Africa as the death toll reaches 34.

Since the tragedy occurred on Christmas Eve, the number of fatalities caused by the gas tanker explosion has risen.
The death toll from the Christmas Eve gas truck explosion in Johannesburg has risen to 34 from an initial estimate of 27, according to the provincial health department, but families and friends of the dead gathered on Friday morning for a memorial service.
Joe Phaahla, the health minister, and the victims' family members lit candles as a mark of respect at the Boksburg Civic Center.
On Saturday, the explosion tore the roof off the emergency room at the Tambo Memorial hospital in the Boksburg neighborhood of the city. Along with destroying residences and multiple cars, it also injured numerous bystanders.
A spokeswoman for the Gauteng Department of Health released a statement on Friday that included the most recent casualty figures.
As on Friday, December 30, 2022, "The Department of Health can report that the dead toll from the Boksburg Explosion incident has grown to 34," it claimed.
The spokeswoman stated that there were 23 general public victims in addition to 11 members of the medical community. Authorities had already predicted that the number of fatalities would rise due to the severity of the burns caused by the explosion.
According to a post the health department made on social media remembering a monument for the deaths, the victims included children as young as nine.
As authorities looked into the situation, President Cyril Ramaphosa made promises of assistance to the victims.
