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NEW YORK - A construction crane fell on a residential building in Manhattan on Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring several others, the New York City Fire Department said.
The giant crane reportedly separated from the side of a skyscraper under construction and smashed into a block of residential buildings.
A Reuters photographer on the scene said the crane had completely crushed a building of several stories and cars on the street were also under rubble. The crane also damaged some neighbouring buildings.
A Fire Department spokesman said two people were confirmed dead and a third was in critical condition in hospital. Others were injured and the rescue operation was ongoing.
The building was a small residential building between two other taller buildings on 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The crane appeared to have fallen from a construction site to the north.
The New York Post reported that the white crane was about 19 stories high.
Stephen Kaplan, an owner of the Reliance Construction Group, which manages construction at the site was shocked by the accident.
"It was an absolute freak accident," Kaplan said. "All the piece of steel had to do was fall slightly left or right, and nothing would have happened."
Local TV station NY1 broadcast an amateur video taken shortly after the collapse which showed the building completely enveloped in what appeared to be a cloud of brownish dust.
- REUTERS
