TWO men suffered severe burns after receiving huge electric shocks while laying new cables on Foulness Island.

The men, both in their thirties, were rushed to the specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, one by air ambulance.

It is understood the incident caused a power blackout on the island, which has a handful of homes, but is mainly a military research base, run by the firmQinetiQ on the MoD’s behalf.

Both the men remain in a series condition in hospital following the incident at 11am on Monday.

A spokesman for QinetiQ said: “QinetiQ can confirm at around 11am on September 14, an incident took place at the MoD site in Essex, managed by QinetiQ, resulting in three electrical contractors being taken to hospital.

“Two suffered burns and the third was admitted in a state of shock.

“We are conducting our own investigation into the incident and the Health and Safety Executive has been informed.”

An East of England Ambulance spokesman said: “We received a call shortly after 11am on Monday, and deployed two ambulances, a hazard area response team, a rapid response unit and the East Anglian Air Ambulance to the scene, near Foulness.

“We dealt with three patients. Two had suffered burns to their arms, forearms, hands and faces, and were taken to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, one by ground ambulance and another by air ambulance.

“The third patient was not taken to hospital.”

A spokesman for the air ambulance added: “Dr Adam Chesters and critical care paramedic Gary Spitzer were tasked to an incident in Southend, on Monday and Anglia Two landed at 11.53am in an adjacent field.

“The medical crew treated two men in their thirties who had suffered severe injuries.

“Both patients are said to be in a serious condition.”

Colin Seagers, Rochford councillor for Foulness and Great Wakering, said contractors had joined representatives from the MoD and QinetiQ at a meeting of Great Wakering Parish Council last week to discuss electrical work on the site.

He said: “There have been some ongoing cable laying with some quite heavy duty cable around the various facilities and residencies on the island. These cables had at least three coils which were each of the order of ten to 12mm at the very least.

“They were giving notice to parishioners and councillors that there would be further works requiring brief shutdowns for a couple of hours each time.”

SCIENTIST KILLED IN 2002 EXPERIMENT

THIS is not the first time there has been a serious incident at the MOD site on Foulness.

A government scientist was killed there 13 years ago when a bomb-making experiment went wrong.

Ministry of Defence scientist Terry Jupp, 46, was engulfed in a fireball during the joint Anglo-American experiment investigating Al- Qaida’s ability to make bombs using large quantities of volatile chemicals which were mixed together without being tested first.

Mr Jupp died in hospital six days after the blast at Newlands Battery, in 2002, after receiving 85 per cent burns.

In 2010, his inquest heard the risk involved in mixing the chemicals was “foreseeable”, but the execution of the experiment “appears to have been reckless and negligent”.

A year later, the Crown Censure imposed its most serious enforcement action on the base’s defence science and technology laboratory.

Susan MacKenzie, Crown Censure chairman at the Health and Safety Executive, said during the hearing: “Terry Jupp died needlessly.

“Even at the time of the incident, the laboratory had well documented safety procedures, which, had they been followed fully, would have prevented or considerably reduced the severity of the incident.”