Scalded by hot tar: Toronto worker in ‘critical condition’ after traffic accident

Victim was screaming: witnesses

Rescue crews attend to a paving worker scalded by hot tar in East York Monday, after the substance splashed over the man during a traffic accident. Kristen Doopan/Toronto Observer

https://twitter.com/kristend__/status/780390199822053376

Police and emergency services were quickly on the scene after a vat of hot tar encased a 46-year-old worker at Logan and Danforth avenues, early Monday morning.

Emergency personnel worked vigorously to extract the man, who became trapped in the back of a large paving truck.

It took rescuers more than an hour to safely extricate the victim from the wreckage. Officials said the man’s face and arms were covered in tar, causing him extreme and immobilizing pain.

According to Toronto police, the truck was full of tar and travelling on Danforth Avenue when a torch fell off the front of the truck. The driver hit the brakes immediately. This resulted in the tar spilling all over the worker’s face and arms. The man became literally stuck in the back of the truck as the hot tar solidified. Witnesses could hear the man screaming in pain.

He had been wearing his protective suit and full safety gear, officials said. He suffered several first degree burns and was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital.

About this article

By:
Posted: Sep 27 2016 3:03 pm
Edition:
Filed under: News
Multimedia:
Topics: