Second New York crane collapse shocks the city again

Published on Friday 30 May 2008 23:37

A CRANE collapsed yesterday in a residential Manhattan neighbourhood, smashing into a 23-storey apartment building as it fell to the ground, killing one construction worker and seriously injuring two others.

It was the second deadly crane accident recently in New York city, which is undergoing a building boom.

The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said: "What has happened is unacceptable and intolerable. Having said that, we do not know at the moment what happened or why."

At a news conference, he said one of the casualties was in the cab of the crane and a second was on the street. He said he did not know about the third person and did not say who had been killed.

"The sound was like a thunder clap. Then, an earthquake," said Peter Barba, who lives on the seventh floor of the damaged building across the street from where workers were erecting a luxury apartment tower.

One body was brought out of the rubble at East 91st Street and First Avenue, placed on a stretcher and covered in a white sheet. A construction worker knelt over the stretcher, gently stroking the sheet.

A construction worker, Simeon Alexis, was taken to a hospital with his "chest slashed open," foreman Scott Bair said. His eyes filled with tears. Mr Bair said his own life was saved because he left to get an egg sandwich a block away just before the collapse. He said he ran to the construction site, took a roll-call of his 40 workers and discovered that Mr Alexis was missing.

"Everyone was shook up and crying," he said. "These are some hardened men, but they were crying."

Video from the scene showed the upper-floor balconies of the apartment building were severely damaged and a hole extended several stories down the side of the building.

Chaos enveloped the area as dozens of emergency vehicles raced to the scene in the rush hour.

Cranes at the site had generated several complaints in the neighbourhood, including reports that safety barriers were breached and heavy loads passed over the heads of pedestrians, according to city building department records. Inspectors found most of the concerns were unwarranted.