New York residents are mourning the loss of one and hoping for a speedy recovery for three others who were injured by a crane that collapsed early Friday morning in Lower Manhattan.
According to Mayor Bill de Blasio, wind was picking up severely, causing workers to try and secure the crane but it instead toppled down, hitting buildings, cars, and the four victims.
The incident has caused physical damages over a two block radius including gas and water main leaks.
New York Times reports that the person who was killed was sitting in a parked car on Worth Street; authorities haven’t yet released a name. Two of the victims were reportedly seriously injured and the final one, major injuries from the debris but nothing life-threatening.
In a conference held shortly after the incident, Mayor De Blasio said it was “remarkable that the human toll was not worse.” He said the area where it fell is a high-traffic area.
“This is a very, very sad incident — we’ve lost a life,” Mayor de Blasio said. “It was something of a miracle there wasn’t more impact.”
Apparently, the crane was in place doing work on 60 Hudson Street and when the incident first happened, it was reported that 15 people, instead of four were injured. That data was later recounted and proved to be only one dead and three injured.
Since then, that area is pretty much closed off as emergency responders are searching for potential victims.
So how did an entire crane collapse in New York?! It’s reported that it was actually just inspected last Thursday for approval of its length of duty.
“The crane was being used for a project to replace generators and air-conditioning units on top of the building,” officials said.
Mayor De Blasio references the high winds again. He says they reached 20 MPH and the protocol to secure the crane is to be put into effect when winds reach 25 MPH.
An investigation is underway, NY times report.
“This is being treated as a scene where we want to get all the facts about what happened here,” Mr. de Blasio said.
We are praying for the families of all of their affected by this incident.
Source: Ny Times, http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/nyregion/crane-collapse-lower-manhattan.html?referer=https://www.google.com/&_r=1
TSR intern: Chantel P.! @_popchanny on IG!
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