Crawler crane down in NYC

A large capacity crawler crane collapsed and flipped upside down on a New York City street at 08.32 Friday 5 February when workers were trying to lower and secure the boom during increasingly high winds, according to news reports. One man was killed and three people were injured in the incident that damaged buildings, cars and a block-long stretch of Worth Street in Lower Manhattan.

The man who was killed was sitting in a parked car, according to news reports. He was identified as David Wichs, 38, and a resident of Manhattan.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the scene and told reporters the three other people injured were pedestrians hurt by falling debris, according to news reports.

"You can see how powerful the damage was, but you can also see that it was something of a miracle there were not more casualties,” de Blasio said, according to CNN.com.

Owned by New York-based Bay Crane, the Liebherr crawler was on bare rental to a contractor who was using the crane to replace HVAC units, according to news reports.

The City of New York ordered the more than 400 cranes in operation in the city to be secured, according to news reports.

According to CNN.com, “building inspectors had been at the site a day earlier after granting approval for the crane operator to add an extension. The work was found to be in full compliance."

A video of the indicent can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPtxy1_bI5Y.