Giant crane plummets into New York street

Giant crane plummets into New York street	31.05.2008
A large crane has collapsed in New York City, killing one person and smashing into an apartment building as it plummeted to the ground. Two others were seriously injured in the collapse on Manhattan`s upper east side, the New York City Fire Department said. The top section of the crane smashed into "The Electra" apartment building, which is more than 20 floors high. The crane was working on a building under construction across the street from the high-rise. All three victims were working on the site when the crane fell on the 32-storey building being built. A pedestrian was also slightly injured. Television footage showed part of the crane in a crumpled mess in the street and a corner apartment at the top of the building that had been demolished. Balconies had been ripped from apartments on the building as the crane fell. Grant Disick, a doctor who was just a few blocks away when the crane collapsed, was one of the first people on the scene to offer assistance. "At least one person is still pinned under there," Disick said. "I felt the pulse on the first guy, I could see half of his body." He said he saw another injured man across the street, who was "alert and conscious." Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the incident as "unacceptable and intolerable". "We have no reason to believe that there was anything we could have done to prevent this," he said. "Clearly, the crane fell. Three people were very badly hurt, one fatally, so we have to take a look at our procedures again." New York governor David Paterson said the accident was a "terrible tragedy". "There`s no need to speculate now on how this happened. That will all be investigated, but certainly these types of accidents are all too frequent," he said. Firefighters were picking through piles of rubble at the site, which was closed off at ground level, while crowds gathered trying to get a look at the twisted metal of the crane and part of the building that appeared sheared off. In March a giant crane fell and crushed a residential building in midtown Manhattan, killing seven people and injuring more than 10 others. In October a crane dropped a container of debris from the 53rd floor of a skyscraper near Times Square, injuring several people. New regulations were introduced following the March accident, and first deputy buildings commissioner Robert LiMandri said the crane involved in today`s collapse had been inspected under this new protocol. Mayor Bloomberg told local radio on Friday that public safety was top priority and that the city would not "tolerate any rate of accidents higher than it has to be." "This is just unacceptable and we have got to figure out what happened here," he said. "I gather the vertical part of the crane stayed attached to the building the way it`s supposed to. This looks like the top came off." "The public walking by shouldn`t be at risk," Bloomberg said. Share this article Digg this Post to del.icio.us Post to Newsvine Post to Facebook Add to kwoff
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	08. 2008

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