PERTH, Australia (AP) -- Four workers at an iron ore plant in northwestern Australia were seriously injured when gas exploded close to them, authorities said Thursday.
BHP Billiton spokesman John Crowley said five men were caught in a gas flare about midnight, while working in an area of the mining giant's Boodarie Iron plant that had been shut down for maintenance.
``One man didn't require hospital treatment (but) four were seriously injured,'' Crowley said. ``They were taken to Port Hedland Hospital and I understand some have been taken to Perth.''
A spokeswoman for Royal Perth Hospital said the four would be transferred to intensive care as soon as they arrived from Port Hedland, 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) to the north.
Crowley said BHP Billiton's own inspectors were working with officials from the Western Australia state Mines Department to determine what happened.
``It is too early to try and determine or speculate on what was the cause of it was,'' he said.
