A builder was last night in hospital in a “stable” condition following an industrial accident at an Aberdeen construction site.
The 30-year-old man was working on a block of flats in the Cove area of the city when building material is understood to have fallen upon him.
Emergency services made their way to the Stewart Milne Homes site, off Charleston Road, at about 8.30am yesterday.
Fire crews, ambulances and police units all attended as shocked residents were leaving to go to work.
The immediate area was cordoned-off as medical teams treated the casualty and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) began an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Work was halted on the block of flats on which the man had been working, though construction continued on the rest of the large-scale development.
Speaking at the scene, Inspector Graeme Penny confirmed: “A 30-year-old male has been injured while working on the building.
“He has been taken to hospital. He was in a stable condition when he left here.”
The inspector said a single building had been involved in the accident and confirmed it had been fenced-off and secured to enable the Health and Safety Executive to examine the scene.
John Low, managing director of Stewart Milne Homes on site, ruled-out early reports of a building collapse.
He said: “Our thoughts are with this individual and we, along with his own employer, will be monitoring his condition and providing every support to him and his family.
“We can confirm that no structure has collapsed but it would appear that some material has fallen within the building.
“We have our full HSE team on-site to make sure it is safe and secure. Once that has been ascertained, we will begin an investigation to find out what exactly happened.”
An HSE spokeswoman said: “HSE is aware of the incident and making initial enquiries. We cannot comment further at this time.”
Local residents watched as the drama unfolded.
Greig Slatter said: “I stay pretty much next door to it and I just heard a really loud noise.
“I thought it was a car crash to begin with, it was so loud.
“About ten minutes later I heard all the sirens.
“There are a lot of people in shock.”
