Kiwi hurt in Afghan blast

A Wellington construction manager working in Afghanistan has been badly hurt in a bomb blast that killed a colleague.

Peter Gerrard, 57, was working for Australian reconstruction firm Professional Service Solutions in the southern province of Helmand when a landmine went off on Tuesday.

The explosion happened as workers were repairing a road near Gereshk, west of Kandahar. As they dug into a dry creek bed, they hit a deeply buried landmine.

The company said in a statement that Mr Gerrard was in a stable condition at Britain's military hospital at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. He was set to be flown to a hospital in Germany last night. His wife was flying there to meet him.

An Afghan colleague died from injuries suffered in the explosion, the statement said.

Professional Service Solutions chief executive Craig Coleman said Mr Gerrard was "in the best care possible". He had been working in Afghanistan overseeing road construction since June 2005.

The company was working to help both affected families, he said. Mr Coleman refused to elaborate on Mr Gerrard's injuries, citing privacy concerns.

Earlier this month he told reporters the company had never experienced a death or serious injury after working in every province in Afghanistan.

- © Fairfax NZ News