Image: Twitter / The Age

Man In Serious Condition After Explosion At Melbourne’s Albion Hotel

A man has been taken to hospital in a serious condition after an explosion at the Albion Hotel in Melbourne.

The man suffered serious burns to his chest as a result of the incident, which occurred while he was working on a gas pipe or tank at the work-site connected to the back of the hotel. He was taken to The Alfred hospital shortly afterwards.

The explosion occurred around 12:30pm on Tuesday, with police and WorkSafe investigators already on the scene by the early afternoon. A man from a nearby work-site told The Age that at first he thought the sound was a truck hitting the nearby Montague Street bridge. The sound was “significant” he said. “It’s just a tragedy what’s happened to this pub.”

This is the second serious incident at the hotel in under a year. The Albion Hotel was close to being reopened after undergoing renovations last year before it was the target of a planned arson attack. On that morning the site foreman was bashed by men in balaclavas shortly before the building went up in flames.

The Albion is part owned by Collingwood AFL player Dane Swan, as well as former Melbourne Storm players Robbie Kearns and Danny Williams.

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