WATCH: Smoke billowing from Joburg CBD manholes as underground fire rages

Emergency services have responded to a fire in an underground tunnel in the Johannesburg CBD, which has left Selby and the surrounding areas without electricity.

City of Johannesburg Environment Infrastructure Service Department MMC Councillor Michael Sun said a warning of the underground blaze was received on City Power’s system on Monday morning.

ALSO READ: 13 suburbs without electricity as ‘disrespectful’ City Power deals with more than 800 calls

“Unfortunately it’s still not safe for the firefighters to go down, so [firefighters will] tackle the tunnel from the other end to ensure we locate the seed of the fire,” Sun said.

At present, Johannesburg emergency services are on standby at the worst affected area on Ntemi Piliso Street, in the Johannesburg CBD, where two main lines have tripped.

This resulted in an outage at the Fordsburg substation. The Selby substation has also been affected, hitting most industrial areas east of Johannesburg.

Sun also said there has not yet been a need to evacuate residents or occupants in the area, but that the city would update those affected should the situation change.

City Power said an estimated time as to when power would be restored to the affected areas has not yet been determined, and neither has the cause of the fire.

Updates to follow as more information is made available.

Compiled by Nica Richards.