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A teenage construction worker is in Southland Hospital after he was crushed by a concrete slab at Fonterra's Edendale dairy factory.
Eighteen-year-old Callum Shaw was working in a trench at the factory when a slab believed to weigh more than a tonne fell on him about 11.30am, said Sergeant Ian Temple of Gore police.
A digger was quickly able to lift the slab off him by the time emergency services arrived.
Mr Temple said he understood Mr Shaw suffered crushing injuries to his chest.
Mr Shaw was being assessed in the emergency department , a Southland Hospital spokeswoman said.
Fonterra's Edendale factory, about 27km southwest of Gore in Southland.
A Fonterra spokeswoman confirmed that a building contractor suffered serious injuries while working on a construction site.
The contractor was treated on site before being transferred by ambulance to hospital.
An investigation was underway and Fonterra and the contractor's employer would be providing information to the Department of Labour in the process, she said.
- NZPA
