Three injured in explosion near US Open stadium in Queens

Workers were replacing a transformer when explosion took place

The injured were rushed to a local hospital (Getty)

Three workers suffered burn injuries in an explosion near the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens on Monday afternoon.

The men were working across the street from the tennis stadium when the blast took place around 1.40pm local time near Meridian and Shea roads.

The injured were rushed to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Officials from the New York City Fire Department said the workers’ current health condition is not known.

A worker who did not wish to be identified told NBC New York that the building serves as electrical housing for the stadium.

The injured men were contractors who were replacing a transformer when it exploded, the worker said.

“Three employees of an electrical contractor, in the process of replacing a transformer at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, sustained injuries earlier today and were transported by ambulance to a local hospital,” a spokesperson for the US Tennis Association, which owns the centre, said in a statement.

“Our thoughts are with the employees involved and their recovery.”

Energy company Con Edison said it did not own the equipment involved in the blast but the crew was sent by the company.