VIDEO: Waterford man critical after explosion at Youghal metal plant

The Health and Safety Authority are conducting an investigation after a young man was left critically ill following an explosion at his workplace in Youghal.

The man, in his early 20s and from the west Waterford village of Clashmore, had to be airlifted to Cork University Hospital yesterday morning from the nearby east Cork town.

It followed an incident at around 9.30am yesterday when he was working at B&C Services, a metal fabrication specialists located in a unit at the industrial estate on the Foxhole side of Youghal.

It is understood the man, believed to be a graduate of Waterford Institute of Technology, had been welding on a diesel tank when there was an explosion.

Gardaí were quickly at the scene and the victim was tended to by Dr Hugh Doran and an off-duty advanced paramedic from the East Cork Rapid Response Unit.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard in Dublin confirmed it had received a request for an airlift at approximately 9.55am, with the Sikorski helicopter Rescue 117 from Waterford at the scene within 15 minutes.

Gardaí had sealed off the area around the incident in the industrial estate and had also cleared the nearby Youghal GAA pitch so the helicopter could land. Once the man was on-board it departed straight away for CUH, where the man was still in a critical condition last evening.

Members of his family were being informed and it is understood that some who live overseas were travelling back to Ireland to be at his bedside.

The HSA are now set to investigate the circumstances of the incident.

Some people who work in local businesses close to the unit where the incident occurred said they had not heard anything but were then informed by gardaí at the scene to keep a distance.