Crane accidents Archives | Page 6 of 8

Fatal crane incident india

One man died and another was injured when a crawler crane overturned at a metro construction site in Saidapet, Chennai, India on Saturday.

The crane was said to be lifting a 25 tonne counterweight and was slewing to load it onto a trailer when it overturned. The boom landed on welder Ranjith Biswal, 20, killing him outright, while Tira Nayak, 19, was trapped by his leg and was taken to hospital with a serious fracture which has resulted in the leg being amputated.

Work has been suspended while an investigation looks into the cause for the incident, the crane operator aged 34, has been charged along with the crane supervisor. The contractor involved is Gammon, which has said that the crane was in good working order and that it is co-operating with the investigation.

India’s metro construction programme has seen numerous fatal crane incidents in Delhi, Bangalore and only last year a similar incident occurred in Chennai, when a man was killed and six injured after a crawler crane dropped its load.

Crane overturns in Thailand

A crane overturned this morning in Phuket City, Thailand, cutting off a high voltage power line, but it is hard to see exactly what happened.

The crane a 25 tonne Tadano Rough Terrain/city crane owned by Phuket Kritichai, was on tyres and had its boom raised to around 35 degrees when it overturned in a shallow road side ditch/embankment alongside a main road.

A second crane was quickly brought in to recover the fallen crane and power restored. Thankfully and surprisingly no one was injured in the incident. It could have been so much worse, given that it went over during the morning rush hour and that the boom fell into the road.

Phuket has a dreadful record for mobile crane accidents, with at least three major incidents this year involving improper outrigger set up. This in a city/province island with a population of just 600,000.

Low loader partially overturned

A five axle truck crane being moved across Las Vegas on a low loader partially overturned yesterday at a busy intersection.

The superstructure of the crane, an American Hoist lattice boomed crane owned by Reliable Crane Service, appears to slewed over the side, causing the overturn. The counterweight landed on the road preventing a full overturn, and the crane remained firmly strapped on the trailer bed.

Two wrecker trucks were called in to pull the trailer back upright and the street was opened again by evening. No one was hurt in the incident.

Crane boom drops on highway

A lattice crane boom came down onto I-44/The Turner Turnpike near Stroud, Oklahoma – halfway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa- on Saturday.

According to local feedback the incident was caused by a boom pendant cable failure to a crane working on a turnpike bridge. The boom was quickly removed from the road by another crane working on the same site. No one was injured in the incident, although a truck on the road sustained some damage.

Tower crane loses jib in London

A luffing jib tower crane has lost its jib on a site in Ealing, London yesterday evening. No one has been injured in the incident and some reports state the possible cause is related to the strong gusty winds currently in the area.

The crane, owned by rental company LTC – London Tower Cranes – was working on the Dickens Yard site in Ealing Broadway, currently being developed by St George. The operator was treated for shock, but was otherwise unhurt. A spokesman for St George acknowledged that the incident had occurred, but said that it was not possible to comment at this stage on the possible cause.

The crane and jib which appears to have suffered from a sheared jib bolt, are said to be stable, although they have been monitored overnight for any further movement or risk.

Tower crane hits supermarket in Germany

On the 11th of December a tower crane has collapsed onto an Aldi supermarket in Bad Homburg, Germany, killing at least one member of the public.

The crane, a regular top slewer owned by BBL Cranes, came down around 11:30 this morning hitting the supermarket next to the large office construction site it was working on. The counterweights are said to have fallen near the check out, where the impact killed a 45 year old customer.

Seven other people were injured, with two of them considered to be in a serious condition. The crane operator, 58, is among the injured as was the mother of the deceased. The more serious injured were airlifted to hospital.

A search is continuing among the rubble for any other injured persons, but this is being hampered by the instability of the structure. A mobile crane has now lifted the crane clear of the roof.