Police talk to workers in Hamilton where a worked was trapped. Photo / Hamilton News
Police talk to workers in Hamilton where a worked was trapped. Photo / Hamilton News
A Transpower contractor is now in a stable condition in hospital after a temporary pylon he was on suddenly crashed to the ground in Hamilton this morning.
Emergency services were called to the scene, in a rural area of Ruakura Rd about 500m northeast of Waikato University, about 9.30am after reports of a person trapped underneath a pylon.
Fire crews had to free the man, in his 20s, who was wrapped up in power lines. He was taken to Waikato Hospital in a serious condition.
Transpower spokesperson Rebecca Wilson confirmed the contractor, who works for infrastructure company Electrix, was awake when he was being assessed at the scene.
Electrix general manager Robert Ferris said the worker was now in a stable condition in a ward and was being supported by family.
He said the worker was probably attached to the tower when it fell to the ground.
"When people climb above ground level they have to be attached, but this will be something that will come out in the investigation ... but I'm just making clear that he didn't fall from the tower, the tower came down."
The temporary tower was estimated at 15m high.
Wilson said the Electrix crew were contracted by Transpower to do a job for NZ Transport Agency deviating power pylons to make way for the new Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway.
"We have to move them out of the way for the road and as part of that process we put up temporary towers to help shift the existing towers and conductor and unfortunately, and we're not too sure why yet, but while transferring that conductor the temporary tower has fallen with the Electrix worker on it."
Wilson said all crews working at the site had been stood down and work suspended until the company was sure that the site was safe for work to resume.
"We will be doing a full investigation as to what happened and work won't resume until we're sure it's completely safe. So at the moment our thoughts are with the injured worker because our service providers are a wider extension of our team ... we are obviously keen to work out why this happened and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Worksafe also arrived at the scene this morning.
The scene of the incident where a contractor was injured. Photo / Supplied
Earlier, a neighbour reported hearing a loud "wallop" as the temporary tower fell to the ground.
She looked outside to see the pylon lying on the ground about 100m away from her Ruakura Rd home.
The woman ran outside and offered the crew some blankets which were gratefully accepted, she said.
She said the crews had been on the site erecting new power pylons for the past few weeks.
Another neighbour, Russell Cooper, told the Herald he saw the injured man's co-workers offering him assistance as he lay on the ground at the tip of the structure.
"I can see there has been an injury but I didn't see whether the guy was on the pole or not."
Police were questioning the crew of at least eight members.
