A stray cigarette may have caused a powerful explosion at a work yard which led to a Scots OAP dying in hospital after being thrown 16ft. James Stevenson was found critically injured at JJL Groundworks near Dalrymple, East Ayrshire, in December 2019 after colleagues heard a "loud bang" at around 7am.
They rushed outside and found the 79-year-old lying on a pile of scrap metal near a container, known as his 'howff', which was on fire. The worker appeared to have burns on his face, a wound on his head and was covered in soot while his high-visibility vest had melted down the front of his chest.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics, before being airlifted to Glasgow Airport and then driven to the A&E department at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. A Fatal Accident Inquiry was told that the ”well-regarded” pensioner had suffered burns to his face, hands and legs, multiple bone fractures as well as a collapsed lung.
