The city of Ottawa is pushing back against the story of a light rail worker who told CTV News he was seriously injured in the downtown tunnel .

The worker told CTV News on Monday that he was injured at 1:30 a.m. on March 1, near the new Lyon Station.

He said he was knocked unconscious when he tripped on a piece of rebar inside the tunnel, and that paramedics were unable to get to him. A friend drove him the hospital.

The story prompted city officials to investigate the matter immediately.

“As soon as we found out about that report last night, both the city, RTG paramedics, everybody mobilized and we’re looking at every single element,” city transit chief John Manconi said on Tuesday. “If any of those elements occurred, I can assure you we will take corrective action.”

In a memo to council on Tuesday evening, Manconi said the city’s emergency and protective services department reviewed the 911 tapes from the incident, and confirmed paramedics received two calls about it.

During the first call, the dispatcher worked with the caller to determine where the ambulance should arrive and attempted to identify the nature of the injury of his co-worker, the memo said.

“Paramedics arrived at the agreed upon location, but neither the patient nor the caller were on-scene,” the memo added. “Paramedics then received a second call from the same individual cancelling the call as a co-worker was transporting the injured person to the hospital.

“On the night of this alleged incident there was an emergency phone within 100 metres of the incident,” the memo added.

The worker said he was unaware of the presence of emergency phones in the tunnel.

Mayor Jim Watson also cautioned against jumping to conclusions and expressed doubt about the worker’s story.

“In many instances, it could be a misinterpretation,” he said. “I find it hard to believe that an ambulance would leave someone that was injured and go off to another call, so we’ve got to get to the bottom of that.”

However, the head of Ottawa’s District & Labour Council remains concerned about the incident, and about overall conditions in the light rail tunnel. T

here have been 12 on-the-job injuries that led to lost work time on the project, including two in a recent seven-day stretch.

“For him to have to walk all the way out on his own accord, to be driven to the hospital by friends, it’s ludicrous,” Sean McKenny said.

The worker, who declined to be named for fear of losing his job, is scheduled to undergo surgery for a herniated disc in his neck on Wednesday.

McKenny said he’s meeting with Manconi and the Rideau Transit Group, the consortium building the $2.1-billion LRT project, later this week to discuss safety concerns. He fears there are more untold stories.

“Do we know there are other workers who have quit because they felt so unsafe? Yes, we absolutely do,” he said.

Mayor Watson said one injury is too many, but maintains the site and tunnel workers are safe.

“You featured one gentleman who feels unsafe. There are 1,100 people working on the site. I’ve had no one come to me in the last four years, anonymously or through email or telephone, or stopped me on the street, and say that they feel unsafe working on the LRT project.”

Manconi’s memo to council also shed more light on the most recent injury in the tunnel, on Mar. 18.

In that incident, paramedics were called to the tunnel shaft entrance at Queen and Kent streets because a worker was struck by a hose being lifted by a crane. The worker walked out on his own and was treated in hospital.

The Ministry of Labour investigated the location of the incident on Monday, but have not issued any orders or laid any charges.