A Fulton Hogan employee has had a leg amputated after a workplace accident at the Roaring Meg hydro generation site on Wednesday morning.
Eugene Ferreira, of Alexandra, who is in his 40s, was in a stable condition in Dunedin Hospital's orthopaedic ward last night.
He was working as a subcontractor for Pioneer Generation at the Kawarau Gorge site.
On Wednesday night, his wife posted an update on Facebook, saying the accident occurred when her husband was helping unload steel pipes from a truck.
A chain holding the pipes slipped and a pipe fell on to his leg, she said.
Emergency services including two ambulances attended the incident before the man was taken to Dunedin Hospital by helicopter.
Mr Ferreira's wife said he received a blood transfusion and spent ''a good few hours'' in the operating theatre, but his left leg could not be saved.
Another update on the website thanked people for their love and support and said the man would have a further operation today Fulton Hogan Central Otago regional manager Alan Peacock said one of the company's workers had been ''seriously injured''.
The company would conduct its own investigation into the incident, as well as assisting WorkSafe New Zealand with its investigation.
''At the moment our focus is only on the family and the staff members involved, and everything that we can possibly do we are doing for them.
''The workers involved at the scene have been through a tremendous[ly] traumatic incident. The immediate first aid applied by the team made the outcome a lot better than it potentially could have been.''
Mr Peacock had spent yesterday with the injured man's family.
Work at the site had been put on hold until staff involved felt able to return.
