Two workers injured in shipyard incident

● ‘Workers were able to walk unaided’ – Palumbo spokesperson

Two workers were injured, one of them seriously, yesterday afternoon in an incident at the Palumbo shipyard in Cottonera.

The accident took place at the shipyard’s electrical plant at around 2.15pm.

The police said in a statement that the workers were injured in a possible explosion, but the shipyard later said this was not the case. A spokesperson for the company said the workers had received treatment after a “small” fire.

According to the police statement, a 45-year-old Naxxar resident was seriously injured while the other, a 55-year-old from Fgura, suffered slight injuries.

Palumbo disputed this, saying that both workers were slightly injured when a spark triggered a small fire while the pair was working on an electrical circuit breaker.

A shipyard spokesperson said the two workers were “able to walk unaided after the incident and were taken to hospital in a colleague’s car.”

Contrary to erroneous reports, there was no explosion and an ambulance was not required to assist the two men, the spokesperson said.

“We had our two best technicians on the job and the fire was immediately brought under control. We are in constant contact with the two men and their condition is stable. We have also been informed that they are being kept under observation,” the spokesperson said.