Man suffers severe head injuries in quarry accident

Police are trying to figure out how a 69-year-old man came to suffer severe head injuries at a Tauranga quarry this morning.

The man was unconscious when he was found next to a jack-knifed truck near a steep hill at the quarry in Welcome Bay about 9am, Senior Sergeant Rob Glencross said.

He is in a critical condition in Tauranga Hospital's intensive care unit.

Mr Glencross said no one witnessed the incident so police were trying to reconstruct events to ascertain what happened.

"There's a possibility that he's lost control of the truck, it's run into a bank and as a result he's been thrown from it; there's a possibility that he's fallen from the truck and hit his head.

"There's also some suggestion that the clutch may have burnt out and the truck's then lost control... there's any number of possibilities."

It was not believed anyone else was involved, Mr Glencross said.

The police commercial vehicle investigation unit and the Department of Labour are investigating.

- NZPA