Raw Video of Crane Collapse in NYC - @OpieRadio
Last Updated Feb 5, 2016 12:27 PM EST
NEW YORK -- One person died and two others were seriously injured when a crane collapsed in Lower Manhattan during a snow squall Thursday, smashing the roofs of parked cars as it crashed onto the street, authorities said. Another person has minor injuries.
"It was something of a miracle that there wasn"t more impact," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference.
De Blasio said that the collapse happened as crews were lowering the crane into a secure position because wind speeds were above 20 mph. He said people were being directed away from the area as the crane was being moved.
The collapsed red boom of the mobile crane landed across an intersection and stretched much of a block after the accident, which occurred around 8:25 a.m. in the Tribeca neighborhood, about 10 blocks north of the World Trade Center.
Emergency crews survey a massive construction crane collapse on a street in downtown Manhattan in New York Feb 5, 2016.
Reuters/Brendan McDermid
"It felt like a bomb," a woman told CBS New York station WCBS-TV.
"It was right outside my window," said Robert Harold, who works at the Legal Aid Society. "It was a crashing sound. You could feel the vibration in the building. I looked out the window and saw it lying in the street."
Harold said at least one person was trapped in a car and he saw onlookers trying to get the person out. Harold said he also saw a person lying motionless on the street.
Emergency crews survey a massive construction crane collapse on a street in lower Manhattan in New York Feb. 5, 2016.
Reuters/Brendan McDermid
The crane"s long boom appeared to have glanced off buildings on the way down. There was damage on a nearby roof and the street was littered with chunks of concrete and wood.
Bride-to-be Nesh Pillay, 25, is assisted by New York City firefighter Chaplain Ann Mansfield after a crane collapsed near the beauty salon where she was having her hair done in downtown Manhattan in New York Feb. 5, 2016.
Reuters/Gina Cherelus
The crawler crane"s big cab lay upside down in the snow with its tank tracks pointed at the sky. Red metal from the boom jutted up in an intersection next to a green street sign for the Brooklyn Bridge.
De Blasio said there have been gas leaks as the result of the collapse. He said gas has been shut off in buildings around the area. Fire Department and crews from the utility Consolidated Edison have been sweeping the area every 15 minutes to make sure it"s safe.
New York police Sgt. Bob Ganley, vice president of the Sergeant"s Benevolent Association, said the group"s office is right in front of where the crane fell.
"Yesterday, I was speaking to somebody, and I said, "Wow that would be devastating if that ever came down,"" Ganley told CBS New York station WINS-AM.
The fire department was tweeting pictures from the scene.
The crane is owned by Bay Crane. CBS New York station WCBS-AM called the company, and the person who answered the phone gave no comment.
The street was blocked off for at least 3 blocks and nearby buildings were evacuated. Officers told people arriving for work they should go home.
Subway trains bypassed the area and local roads were closed.
The fire department said that around 140 firefighters responded to the scene.
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Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-city-crane-collapses-lower-manhattan-street/
