Two hurt in Stornoway harbour explosion

Two hurt in Stornoway harbour explosion 12/8/14

A man ended up in the water following a compressed air explosion at Stornoway harbour on Tuesday morning.

The blast is thought to have toppled the construction worker over the side of the pier and into the sea.

Another employee is believed to have crushed his foot when the blast lifted a heavy machinery unit off the ground.

It landed on his feet and a colleague managed to operate a switch to raise the weight of the machine off the ground to free the casualty, said a source.

The two casualties were taken to the Stornoway hospital, one mile away, by ambulance.

The industrial accident occurred before 7.50am at the £12 million building works at the ferry terminal for the island of Lewis.

The work is in preparation for the arrival of the new £42 million MV Loch Seaforth ferry this autumn.

The main contractor on the project is BAM Nuttall.

No-one from the company was available for comment tonight though the firm is expected to make a statement over the accident later.

The two men were on the nightshift working at the new under-construction extension, at the outer end of the ferry pier.

It is believed they were using compressed air to clear piping or tubes at the time.

Emergency services rushed to the incident including fire crews with heavy lift equipment.

The casualties were taken to the Stornoway hospital, about a mile away.

A police spokesman said one had a broken leg. The other was described as “walking wounded.”

A spokesperson for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which investigates industrial accidents said - as there was no loss of life - the company had ten days to report the incident

After the report is lodged the HSE inspector will consider the case and decide if a formal investigation should be launched, she added.