Two Hurt in Portsmouth Industrial Accident

Two employees of New England Boat Works in Portsmouth were sent to the hospital with serious but non life-threatening injuries on Tuesday after a lifting device carrying a 1,300 pound load failed.

Portsmouth Fire Dep. Chief Michael P. O’Brien said that the department got a 911 call at around 11 a.m. reporting that two workers had been hurt in the accident.

Portsmouth did not have available ambulances because of a fire alarm that was activated at Portsmouth Middle School. As a result, ambulances from Tiverton’s East Road Station and Naval Station Newport were dispatched to New England Boat Works on Alexander Avenue.

When crews arrived, employees had already begun to provide first aid treatment to the two hurt workers. One man was transported to Newport Hospital. The other was transported to Rhode Island Hospital.

O’Brien said the workers were injured when the lifting device failed and the load collided with them.