2 people sent to hospital, 1 in critical condition, after electrical-hazard incident in Winnipeg

Two people were taken to hospital Thursday morning, one in critical condition,after a work incident involving an electrical hazard in Winnipeg's Rossmere neighbourhood.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews responded to reports of an electrical hazard on Kimberly Avenue shortly before 9:30 a.m., a statement from the departmentsaid. One person was taken to hospital in critical condition andthe other in stable condition.

There was a "serious incident involving a member of the public making contact with electrical equipment," Manitoba Hydro said in astatement. The person wasn't a Manitoba Hydro worker.

Gerry Desrosiers, who lives at the Kimberly Avenue apartment complex where the incident took place, saw one of the workers getting medical treatment when he took his dogs for a walk on Thursday morning.

"I knew that they were covering the air conditioners," he said, but he didn't witness what caused the injuries.

Theworkers had started on Friday and theycame back to finish things Thursday, he said.

"There was a ladder on the ground, he was on the ground, one of the workers was beside him," he said.

Video posted to social media shows a bit of what happened.

A burst of light is seen and then what appears to be a ladder falls to the ground.

Another video shows a fire across the street at the base of a different power line.

Social media video shows aftermath of electrical-hazard incident in Winnipeg

12 days ago

Duration 0:43

Video posted to social media Thursday morning shows a fire at the base of a power line on Kimberly Avenue, after a workplace incident at an apartment complex across the street that left two people hurt.

A spokesperson for the province said Workplace Safety and Health is aware and is investigating, but didn't have any further comment.

Desrosiers said his thoughts are with anyone who was hurt.

"It's awful, because you hear about accidents, but when you see someone on the ground so close, it's kind of sad, and these guys were fairly young workers," he said.