Man in ICU after concrete cube falls

A 45-year-old man is in intensive care after a 300kg block of concrete fell on him at a Bay of Plenty trucking firm.

Brent Leek needed life-saving surgery yesterday afternoon.

He'd been at work at the family business, Omokoroa Carriers, about 1pm when the huge cube of concrete fell on him, crushing his leg and abdomen.

He was taken to Tauranga Hospital in a critical condition, suffering a broken leg and hip.

Although his brother and business partner, John Leek, was present at the time of the accident and saw what happened, he did not want to say how his brother was injured.

"It was just an accident that's happened and we're dealing with it," he said.

Asked whether his brother was carrying out general work that was usually done in their line of work, Leek said "Yes".

He said his brother had not been operating a forklift at the time.

"It was an accident and accidents do happen unfortunately," he said.

He did not believe his brother's injuries were life-threatening and said he was doing "pretty good" in hospital and expected him to make a full recovery.

"The Labour Department is looking at it. He wasn't doing anything wrong, it was just an accident."

He said he'd wait to hear what the department thought went wrong.

Tauranga Senior Sergeant Mark Pakes confirmed police had attended the accident to assist ambulance workers.