The man was taken to Haukeland hospital with serious injuries after a battery exploded.
The police reported this on Tuesday morning. They do not yet know what type of battery has exploded.
– There has been a serious, explosive work accident. An adult man is seriously injured and taken to Haukeland hospital, says emergency manager Rune Vedeler to BA at the scene.
Vedeler reckons that there are many people in the area who have been caught up in the accident.
He says that the police will question witnesses and the mechanic to get answers to what happened. Forensic technicians will also carry out investigations.
– Short circuit
The explosion occurred in a bus at Tide’s facility.
– There has been an incident at the workshop of YES-EU AS, which is located on Tide Mannsverk’s premises, writes communications director Marianne Frønsdal to BA.
– Preliminary investigations indicate that there was a short circuit in the high-voltage system in an electric bus that was in for repair, she writes.
The man who was injured is a mechanic and worked at the workshop. He was working on the bus when the battery exploded.
– The person was quickly taken care of by emergency services and was conscious when he was taken to hospital by ambulance, Frønsdal states.
The battery was mounted in the rear of the bus. We are talking about an electric bus that was not in operation.
– There should not have been people inside the bus, says operations manager Terje Magnussen to BA.
No fire
Gøran Rykkje works as technical manager in the operating company YES-EU. They are importers of Tide’s buses, and have service responsibility for the buses.
He also states that there are many indications that there has been a short circuit in a high-voltage system which led to the explosion.
Rykkje confirms that it is a mechanic who is injured, so not a bus driver.
– I know very little now, but I am working on getting an overview, he says.
Rykkje is on his way from Oslo to Bergen to follow up on the accident.
The bus has been impounded
The police, ambulance and fire service were all called to Tide’s facility on Tuesday.
The fire service has ensured that the explosion did not cause a fire, and has gone over the area with a heat-seeking camera.
Marianne Frønsdal states that Tide is working with both YES-EU and the police to map the sequence of events.
– Tide has implemented internal procedures to follow up the incident internally. The bus has now been towed from the workshop and seized by the police who will carry out further investigations of the bus, she reports.
