One of the ‘casualties’ was trapped in a conveyor belt. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0667523)

TWO men lay seriously injured at Ronez’s quarry yesterday after an explosion – but luckily, it was all for training purposes.

It was the first time such an exercise had taken place at Les Vardes. The siren was sounded at 1.50pm, signalling all men to evacuate the quarry.

The emergency procedure was written four years ago and the teams were keen to put it into practice.

‘Hopefully, it will be of benefit to the emergency services as well as to us here. There is always a risk,’ said Peter De Garis, director and general manager at Ronez.

The ‘explosion’ was in the asphalt plant and there were two casualties. One sustained burns to the face and a broken leg and was at the top of the building, while the other was trapped in a conveyer belt with chest injuries.

To make it as realistic as possible, none of the 20 workers on site were told it was an exercise.