Inquiry continues into cyanide fall

Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are conducting an inquiry into the fall of a Lancashire man into a vat of liquid cyanide.

The 62-year-old is in a critical condition after falling into the container at the metal plating factory where he works, the Leigh Journal reports.

Workers at the site were sent home after the incident. Firemen on the scene hosed down the man and his two rescuers to remove the potentially fatal contaminant from their bodies.

Now, a joint investigation is being conducted by the HSE and the police into how the accident happened. Workers are to be asked for their take on the health and safety incident.

"Investigations at the site have now finished and interviews with employees at the firm are likely to start after Christmas," said a HSE spokesperson.

The executive recommends that the administration of oxygen is the most useful first aid treatment for people who have come into contact with cyanide.