Probe after gas explosion injures two workers

THE Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has launched an investigation to establish the cause of a gas explosion yesterday, which blew the roof off a bottling plant, injuring two workers.

It is understood the men were working near an acetylene cylinder at the Irish Oxygen Company’s Waterfall plant on the western outskirts of Cork city, which apparently leaked, triggering a massive blast just before 11.30am.

The blast, heard up to a half mile away, blew the roof off part of the factory and shattered its windows. It also triggered several small fires in an area where hundreds of gas cylinders are stored.