Blast kills man, injures another

Press, 15 May 1981, Page 1

Blast kills man, injures another

“Unbelievable” was .how David Sands, aged 20, described the shock of an explosion. which killed one of his workmates and left another man critically injured at Anderson’s Engineering, Ltd, in l Curries Road, Hillsborough, .yesterday. The -worker died instantly When an acetylene gas cylinder blew up in his face as it was being unloaded from a truck just before 11.30 a.m. The' explosion was heard 3km away. The dead man was - John William O’Connor, aged 58, of Gloucester Street, Christchurch.

The injured man is Tony Wilson, aged 33, of Riselaw Street, Christchurch, a contract driver for New Zealand Industrial Gases, Ltd. Mr Wilson suffered 37 per cent burns and other severe injuries. He was reported to be in a serious condition in the burns unit at Burwood Hospital last evening. The Department of Labour is investigating the accident and the police have taken possession of the exploded cylinder. Police Inspector P. A. Nash said that the cylinder would be examined by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The management of Anderson’s Engineering refused to comment on the accident and a spokesman for New Zealand Industrial Gases said that no executives were available for comment.

Mr Nash said that the explosion had occurred as the cylinder, one of about 30, was being unloaded from the flat deck N.Z.I.G. truck.

Some workers said later that the cylinder might have been . and the neck broken off, but the exact cause of the accident had not been, established last evening. According to firemen, the blast Scattered the remaining. cylinders and raised the risk of further explosions.

A Fire Service spokesman said that firemen had used water 1 to cool down and stabilise the cylinders. Mr Sands, who had been working nearby as the truck had been unloaded at “B” shed, was badly shaken, as were many of the engineering shop and foundry workers who gathered quietly-in Curries Road to await) instructions.

He said. “I just don’t know how' it could happen. One second he was there and the next he was gone. It was too much.” Mrs Helen West, of 14 Curries Road, was outside talking tq a neighbour when she heard the explosion. She said, “I thought they might have been doing blasting up at the road tunnel or something. Then I heard the ambulances and the fire engines coming and I guessed something had happened at Anderson’s.” Mrs West said 'that the

local residents’ association had at times been concerned about the siting of the engineering works off Curries Road.

“There is a play centre pretty close. It could have been worse.”

The works was quickly evacuated and the areawas sealed off by traffic officers and' the police. Three ambulances stood by while ambulancemen and a doctor of the accident emergency, team, Dr P. Harty; worked on Mr Wilson to stabilise his condition before he was taken to hospital. At 12.30 p.m. workers were allowed back into the factory to collect their belongings and go home for the day. One fire engine stayed at the scene until early last evening. The explosion was felt as far away as South Brighton. Mr F. N. Wardell, who lives about 2km north of the Pleasant Point Bridge, said that he had heard- an audible report. He had also felt the shock. ■- He recalled a similar accident in Napier “about 10 or 12 years ago” when a man had died after a gas bottle had slipped out of a sling. An organiser for the Canterbury Drivers’ Union, Mr L. M. Burns, said that the union was concerned about the car* ting of volatile goods , and would discuss the matter with the Road Carriers’ Association. Pictures: page 3.