Don Hudson: Construction workers scalded by steam and boiling water

Construction workers were inside an underground tunnel doing utility work at the University of Utah on Monday. Then water to a pipe - which had been shut off for weeks in the tunnel - somehow was activated and 350 degree water and steam rushed through the work site injuring all 12 workers - some of them critically.

At the time of writing this a few had been released from the hospital and a couple of them were still in critical condition.

My point of writing this blog is to somehow convey what I was told "off camera" at the site of this horrible incident. A construction worker - who didn't want share his name saw some of the men come out of the tunnel. He says one man pulled his jeans down and "the skin on his legs melted off." That might be the man in the photo - but I am not sure. The construction worker also told me he saw another man comee up and "the skin on his hands and arms was gone." He says one guy looked like the "skin on his face had been torn or melted off." The worker says it was terrible to see the burns. Since that conversation we have learned the water and steam that overcame the workers was 350 degrees.

I can't imagine how painful it must be for those injured and how awful someone feels for re-activating the pipe that caused all the injuries.