Continental Tyres South Africa are quieter than their products

I recently experienced an unusual 'blow out' of a Crosscontact 265/65/R17 All Terrain tyre on a bumpy yet tarred road. The 'tear' was in a straight line from tread to the rim.

4 emails were sent to Continental Tyres (I refuse to deal with the local Best Drive franchise due to the manager/ owners attitude) requesting an explanation as to how/ what happened. No compensation was requested.

No response has been received.

I subsequently asked another tyre dealership as to any explanation and they offered 2 possibilities - 1) hit a pothole (my three passengers agree that no pothole was hit when the tyre 'blew') or 2) a tyre defect