Wal-Mart contractors hurt by electric shock in accident

Five contractors were injured Saturday afternoon -- three of them critically -- in an electrical accident while they were working on the new Wal-Mart store that is currently under construction. The accident severely burned three and injured two others after they were shocked with roughly 12,000 volts of electricity, the Van Buren Township Fire Department said.\nThree of the workers were transported to the burn unit at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis. Two others received minor injuries and were treated at Bloomington Hospital Saturday.\nNames were only released for two of the victims, as police were still trying to notify family members of the other men's injuries.\nSteve Abbott, 27, of Otterbein, Ind., and Scott Shelton, 35, of Anderson, Ind., were both still in critical condition Sunday night at Wishard.\nAn employee in the burn unit said the men received severe second- and third-degree burns covering more than 90 percent of their bodies. \nThe Van Buren Township Fire Department responded to the initial emergency call, which came in at about 3 p.m.\nVan Buren Deputy Chief Rusty Clark was on the scene Saturday and said the men involved in the incident were badly burned but alert.\n"It was a lot of electricity," Clark said, noting that the men were working on the service line to the building, where all of the electricity needed to power a fully functional store originates from. \nClark, who worked with emergency medical personnel to care for the men, said the workers were removed from the building after Duke Energy shut off the electrical current.\nOne of the fire department's captains is now investigating the cause of the incident.\nMonroe County Sheriff's Deputy Randy Jacobs was not immediately available for comment regarding the accident.\nThe new Wal-Mart is being built just west of the current location on West Second Street.\nManagers at the current Wal-Mart store would not comment on the injuries.\nWal-Mart's corporate office did not return a call regarding the incident as of press time.