A 24-year-old Belco worker is being treated in a Boston burns unit after suffering severe burns in an industrial accident at the weekend.

The technician, who is not being named, was part of a crew carrying out routine maintenance at the Railway Trail sub-station in Southampton on Saturday morning when an explosion ripped through equipment shortly after 9 a.m.

The worker, who had been employed by Belco since 1996, is thought to have been thrown backwards by the force of the blast and suffered a laceration to his head and severe burns to his face, neck, arms and legs.

He is thought to have suffered 40 percent burns to his body and was airlifted for specialist treatment to the US, accompanied by his mother, after first being assessed at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. His colleagues at the scene were said to be in shock.

As a result of the blast, a substantial number of homes in Southampton suffered power outages on Saturday, with the majority being restored by 1.30 p.m. that day, and properties in Church Road, St. Anne's Road and Gibbs Hill Road being without electricity until 2.15 a.m. yesterday.

A Railway Trail resident, who did not wish to be named, was at home on Saturday morning when the accident happened.

He said: “I was at home and I heard this big bang. I came running out to see what had happened. He was lying there on his back, very badly burned.

“He was conscious but he was in shock and he was shaking.”

Belco spokeswoman Linda Smith said the company CEO Gary Madeiros and other senior officials immediately went to the hospital to meet the worker and his family.

She said an investigation was underway to ascertain how the accident had happened, but said yesterday it was too early to draw any conclusions at this stage.

Ms Smith said Belco continued to keep in touch with the injured man's family and the hospital in Boston to monitor his condition.

And she said mention should also be made of a number of Belco workers who worked around the clock on Saturday to remove and replace the damaged equipment at the sub-station in order for power to be restored.

She said the incident on Saturday happened as the crew were carrying out routine cable tests at the sub-station.

“Obviously, our first priority and concern was for the injured employee, and then it was to restore power to those homes that had lost it,” she said.

“They (Belco technicians) worked unbelievably late and hard - everyone pulled together. They really worked hard to get everybody back on. It was an incident that upset everybody.”

Bermuda Fire Service staff officer Lt. Dana Lovell said the service was carrying out a joint investigation with Belco to find out the cause of the explosion.

He said: “We understand that it was a very large electrical spark that caused the burns. There was an explosion - the worker did not get electrocuted.

“It is a bit early to speculate. We do not have all the facts at the moment, but in due course we will know everything.”

Ms Smith also apologised to those people who had suffered power outages yesterday (SUNDAY)afternoon in St. Anne's Road, Southampton, a couple of areas of Paget, Flatt's and Harrington Sound.

She said the blackout stemmed from problems at one of the engines at the generator plant, which caused a load shed to occur.

Power went out at 12.30 p.m. but was restored within about 20 minutes.