Gas explosion at Stellenbosch home exposes abalone processing operation Early on Wednesday morning, police were called to a house where a gas bottle exploded. Police car/van. Picture: @SAPoliceService/Twitter. Early on Wednesday morning, police were called to a house where a gas bottle exploded. Firefighters were already on the scene. The police's Andre Traut explains what they found: "[Police] Members conducted an investigation surrounding the circumstances of the incident when they came across a huge quantity of abalone with an expected street value of R900,000 and abalone drying equipment values at around R60,000 in the house." Two men were arrested.