THE Australian Customs Service has rescued three men from a commercial fishing boat on fire off Australia’s north.

NT Police said they received a report that the Pierre, a 15m timber fishing boat, was on fire and taking on water near Melville Island at about 4.30pm (ACST) yesterday.

An Australian Customs Service vessel Botany Bay rescued the men at about 6pm.

Customs officers successively pumped water from the stricken vessel but as they towed it to Melville Island, the fire reignited and they had to release the boat.

The three men, who were not injured, were being taken to Darwin.

AN elderly man died when he fell from a ladder that slipped while he was cleaning out his roof guttering after heavy rain.

The man, 80, suffered severe head injuries when he fell on concrete at his home in McDougalls Road, Kilmore, 60km north of Melbourne, shortly before 8pm (AEDT) yesterday.

He was found by his wife, who heard him moaning following the fall, police said.

She called an ambulance but he died at the scene.

The wooden ladder slipped sideways, causing the man to fall, police believe. They will prepare a report for the coroner.

A TEENAGE boy crushed to death by an earthmover he was operating had been helping his father with landscaping works in their backyard.

The 13-year-old was pinned under the machine at his home at Mt Evelyn, in Melbourne’s outer east, about 7.30am (AEDT) today.

It is believed the boy was operating a small digger to remove rocks when it toppled over on uneven ground, crushing him.

He was dead when paramedics arrived, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Ambulance Service said.

Senior Sergeant Bob Raaymakers said the accident occurred during landscaping works at the West Hill Drive property.

Family friend Yvonne McMillan said the teenager was a popular boy who loved motorbikes, cricket, and working with his hands.

“He started his first year at Monbulk College a few weeks ago in year seven. He was a very energetic, very keen, very loving boy,” she said.

“He liked helping his parents; he liked doing anything for everybody; he was an outdoor kid.”

WorkSafe inspectors and police attended the accident scene.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said while the accident was not in their jurisdiction it was a timely reminder that “kids and machinery don’t mix”.

“It’s a tragedy to his family, his schoolmates and his friends and it reinforces our consistent call for children and inexperienced people to be kept well away fromheavy equipment,” Mr Birt said.

“Here’s a boy who would have been going to school this morning, probably, and there’s a whole school community and his mates who are going to be affected by this and obviously his family.”

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

A UNION claims one of its officers was attacked when he went to investigate the collapse of a 50-tonne crane onto a partly-built unit block in Sydney’s south-west today.

The CFMEU said it had made a complaint to police after its state safety coordinator, Steve Keenan, was punched and kicked when he went to the scene of the crane collapse at the apartment block construction site on Meredith Street, Bankstown.

The apartments and a neighbouring Police Citizens Youth Club were damaged in the accident, which happened shortly after 7am (AEDT) when the crane toppled over with its 1.3 tonne load.

WorkCover said its preliminary investigations had found the accident may have been caused by ground shifting underneath the crane.

CFMEU spokesman Tim Vollmer alleges when union officers went to the scene to speak to WorkCover authorities and carry out their own routine investigations into the accident, Mr Keenan was attacked.

“When Steve and other inspectors were attempting gain access, as they have the right to do, construction staff tried to forcibly prevent them entering the site and assaulted Mr Keenan,” Mr Vollmer said.

He said they had eventually gained access to the site under police escort.

Complaints had been laid with police concerning the alleged assault, Mr Vollmer said, and with WorkCover concerning health and safety issues.

Mr Keenan said that one of the builders “came out like a bloody lunatic”.

“He punched me in the face then kicked me in the stomach. I’ve got print marks on my shirt,” he said.

“Another bloke picked up a brick to hit me over the head with it, but some of the other blokes took it off him.”

A spokesman for the building company, said he had spoken to the union and any problems had been sorted out.

A 50-tonne crane has collapsed onto a partly-built unit block and a neighbouring Police and Citizens Youth Club in Sydney’s southwest.

WorkCover said the crane toppled over with a load of about 1.3 tonnes while operating at the apartment block construction site on Meredith Street in Bankstown.

No one was injured in the accident, which damaged the partially-built apartments and the roof of the neighbouring club.

A WorkCover spokeswoman said a geotechnical expert had been called in to investigate the accident and a salvage operation was under way.

She said preliminary investigations had found the accident may have been caused by ground shifting underneath the crane.

Work on the apartments has stopped until WorkCover declares the site safe.

Article from: AAP

AN auto mechanic has been badly burnt after the car he was working on burst into flames in Sydney’s west.

A NSW Ambulance spokesman said the 45-year-old man was lying underneath the car at a service station in Beaconsfield Street, Revesby, when the car caught fire and exploded.

He was believed to have been carrying out welding when the accident happened about 12.15pm (AEDT).

He was taken to Concord Hospital with third-degree burns to half his body, and his condition was described as serious.

No one else was injured in the accident, the spokesman said.

WORKMATES of a Victorian knackery worker infected with anthrax while handling affected cattle carcasses have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure, authorities have said.

Several workers at the Stanhope facility who were considered at risk had been provided with medications by their own doctors, Department of Human Services (DHS) spokesman Bram Alexander said.

“The knackery worker has been up and about today and is recovering well,” Mr Alexander said.

“He is expected to leave hospital in a few days and he has been keen to let people know that he is okay.”

The 34-year-old was diagnosed with a skin infection early last week, the first such case in the state for 10 years, but has responded well to antibiotic treatment at Goulburn Valley Health Hospital.

At least 25 head of cattle on four farms around Stanhope, in Victoria’s north, have died as a direct result of the disease, prompting fears among neighbouring farmers of a widespread epidemic.

Today, Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) said there was no cause for alarm as anthrax was a common occurrence in Australia and had been for 150 years.

However, as many as 5000 head of cattle would be vaccinated by the end of the week, a DPI spokeswoman said.

“The vaccination program is targeting all farms and cattle within an eight-kilometre radius of the outbreak in Stanhope,” she said.

“It’s important to understand that this a routine precautionary measure.

“There is no public health risk, only an occupational risk for those who work in the industry. Anthrax is not contagious as far as concerns over humans contracting it from live cattle go.”