Sumburgh runway opened up beneath digger

A WORKMAN is recovering in hospital in Lerwick after a digger he was driving toppled into a hole that opened up beneath him while he was repairing the runway at Shetland’s Sumburgh airport.

Fire crews from Lerwick, Sandwick and Sumburgh raced to the scene when the alarm was raised at 9.12am on Sunday morning.

Reports from the scene said the man had been working on the new runway extension on the east end of the 09/27 runway in Force 9 south easterly gales.

One observer said the runway gave way under the digger and it fell into a hole, trappping the driver’s hips between the digger’s cab and the side of the hole.

It took fire crews just under one hour to remove the injured driver through the cab’s rear window, after they had used another digger and a dumper truck to stabilise the vehicle.

As a safety precaution he was carried to one of two waiting ambulances on a spinal board before being driven to Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital.

A hospital spokeswoman said his condition was satisfactory and he was currently under observation. It is unclear whether he will be kept in overnight.

The Sumburgh airport runway extension has been under repair since last summer when the Scottish government announced a £12 million grant towards the project.

The initial extension is still subject to a legal dispute between Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd and Shetland Islands Council, who managed the building project, over who is responsible for its failure to stand up to Shetland’s severe winter weather.