Family pay tribute to man who died in blast
AN engineer killed when an electricity sub-station blew up was due to retire within six months.
John Higgins, of Albany Road, West Bergholt, was killed in the fire at Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford on Wednesday.
A post mortem carried out on Friday concluded that the 59-year-old died from burns and the inhalation of toxic gases.
A statement issued by his family paid tribute to a man who had "absolutely everything to live for".
"We are devastated by the loss of John, a wonderful loving husband, son, father, grandfather, brother and a good friend to so many," it said.
"John has left a huge hole in our lives which will never be filled.
"The whole family asks to be left in peace at this dreadful time to try and come to terms with this pointless loss of life.
"We would like to thank the police for their support and will be following the investigation very closely as we need to comprehend the circumstances that led to this horrific incident."
Mr Higgins, who was married to Sheila, worked for EDF Energy and was due to take early retirement at 60.
The incident caused major disruption in Chelmsford, with power cut off to thousands of homes and businesses, including Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford Crown Court and Essex Police headquarters.
An investigation in to the incident is being carried out by Essex Police, the Health and Safety Executive, EDF Energy and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.
* Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 0300 333 4444.
12:00pm Saturday 10th May 2008
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