Deaths Caused by Exploding Tyres

An unnamed 19-year-old man has died after a tyre exploded while he was inflating it at his workplace. The man was working at a tyre firm in Cleland, Lanarkshire when the tyre threw him backwards into a wall, the BBC has reported.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said a fatal accident inquiry would be held. “It appears the 19-year-old was inflating the tyre when it exploded,” she said. “He was seriously injured as a result and he died soon after. We cannot comment on whether the tyre was faulty or what kind of tyre it was. A report is being sent to the procurator fiscal and health and safety have been informed.”

Shortly after the tragic incident, the inquest into another unrelated death caused by an exploding tyre concluded. A 25-year-old farm worker was killed when a tractor tyre exploded and is reported to have had blast injuries similar to those caused by a bomb, an inquest has been told. Gavin Jones, from Tremadog, Gwynedd, died in Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, in January 2004.

North West Wale Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said the tyre, which Mr Jones had been filling with air, “flew off as if rocket propelled”. A misadventure verdict was returned by an inquest jury in Caernarfon.

The inquest heard that one of the front wheels of a tractor had a puncture and had been taken off for repair. Mr Pritchard-Jones said he believed that Mr Jones went to fill the tyre. “The next thing that happens is the tyre explodes,” he said. “It knocked over Mr Jones and the wheel flew off as if rocket propelled.” Mr Pritchard-Jones said Mr Jones was not aware of the potential danger and had not been trained for what he was doing. His employer David Pugh Jones told the inquest he was not supposed to be repairing the wheel.