City of Johannesburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele joined the Wits SRC to hand out food parcels and dignity packages to students displaced by a blaze that erupted after a gas pipe leak in Braamfontein.

Five students were hospitalised after a gas pipe near the Nelson Mandela Bridge, on the corner of De Korte and Bertha streets, caught fire on Tuesday afternoon. 

Egoli Gas said there had been an "isolated fire" on one of its pipelines.

The company said, "The gas pipeline was immediately isolated, and the fire was contained within 15 minutes."

Johannesburg Emergency Services Management spokesperson Nana Radebe said Egoli Gas had been performing routine maintenance on its pipes when the fire occurred. 

Around 500 students were evacuated from the residence, but returned on Thursday.

Makhubele's spokesperson Amina Williams said students from both Wits and the University of Johannesburg lived in the building and that the first and second-floor students were most affected.

Williams said the students had asked for relief in the form of food parcels and counselling after the traumatic incident.

She said some students were receiving counselling.