Construction crane falls from the roof, killing 4 in Seattle: NPR



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Emergency crews are working on the site of a crane collapse on Saturday in Seattle. Four people were killed.

Joe Nicholson / AP


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Joe Nicholson / AP

Emergency crews are working on the site of a crane collapse on Saturday in Seattle. Four people were killed.

Joe Nicholson / AP

A construction crane fell from the roof of a Seattle office building on Saturday afternoon, killing four people and wounding four others.

The crane damaged six cars. Two of those killed were ironworkers in the crane and two others in separate vehicles, the Seattle Fire Department said. Three of the people killed were men and a woman. Their names have not been published yet.

Firefighters said four people had been evaluated by doctors, three of whom had been taken to the Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries: a 27-year-old man, a 25-year-old woman and a 4-month-old woman. . girl.

The woman, aged 25, was the girl's mother. His car was hit but both survived in what Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan called a "miracle".

The three patients who went to the hospital "everything will be fine," the University of Washington medical press room said. The mother and baby were released Saturday night, according to the Seattle Times, while the man "remains in satisfactory condition," the hospital said.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries will investigate the cause of the collapse of the crane, the fire department said.

Witnesses spoke of strong winds at the time of the collapse of the crane, although the National Weather Service tweeted that it would not "consider" as strong gusts of 18 and 23 mph reported nearby around the same time.

"It was terrifying," reporter Esther Nelson, who worked nearby, told reporters. Time. She guessed that the crane was eight or nine stories high and said that she had broken it in half. "Half was flying sideways on the building," she told the newspaper. "The other half fell on the street, crossing both lanes of traffic."

Construction has been a constant in Seattle for years, with more cranes building apartments and offices – about 60 – than in any other US city, according to the Associated Press.

The last time a person died in a crane accident in the area dates back to 2006, in Bellevue, when a crane fell and killed a Microsoft lawyer at his home. In response, the state of Washington adopted what the Time described as "one of the country's most stringent crane safety laws, which required state testing machines, as well as improved certification and training of crane operators to from 2010. "

"Determining how and why this tragedy occurred will take time," Mayor Durkan said in a statement. "The city of Seattle, including the Seattle Police Service, will continue its collaboration with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries so that they can conduct a thorough investigation into the causes of this." The SDOT will also ensure that road repairs are completed. "

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