A 46 year old man died yesterday at a factory on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) when the iron beam he was soldering exploded in his face. Accident investigators believe that the hollow iron beam designed to support loads of up to ten tonnes, had somehow filled with gas, causing it to burst apart.

The victim suffered fatal neck and spinal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency medics had battled for thirty minutes to revive him. The incident occurred at the Demag beam factory located on the calle Buenos Aires on the Camporroso industrial estate (photo) at around 5.30pm yesterday afternoon.

This was the second fatal workplace accident in the Madrid region yesterday - a 23 year old man was crushed to death by a bulldozer on a construction site in Arroyomolinos shortly before midday.