Four coal trucks were torched near an Eskom power station in Mpumalanga on Monday evening.

Fire and rescue services spokesperson Celesca van Dorsten said they were called to Arnot power station just after 11pm.

Police spokesperson Brig Leonard Hlathi confirmed the incident.

He said one of the drivers was forced out of his truck by an unknown man who accused him of working while others were on strike.

The trucks were queuing on the Wonderfontein road on their way to deliver coal to the power station.

“ It has not been established whether the four trucks found burning at Arnot were set alight individually or only one truck was set alight and the rest caught fire as a result,” Hlathi said.

He said the damage was estimated to be in the region of R5m.

Cases of malicious damage to property were opened.

Eskom said three trucks had been torched close to the power station. A fourth truck was torched near Matla mine.

The power utility confirmed that two truck drivers were assaulted near the power station.

“The sporadic interruption of coal delivery by trucks does not have an immediate impact on the coal status at both Arnot and Matla.

“Should the interruption intensify or spread over an extended period it may affect the healthy stock level,” said a spokesperson for Eskom.