Manhattan (New York City): Scary visuals of a huge construction crane atop a high rise in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards, which caught fire and collapsed, surfaced on social media on Wednesday.
Visuals showed the crane striking the building across the street before plummetting more than 45 stories onto the street below. Horrified pedestrians ran for cover as a plume of thick black smoke engulfed the area.
Reports suggested that at least two people were struck by falling debris. A firefighter also suffered a minor injury. The burning crane is owned and operated by Lomma Crane & Rigging in South Kearny, N.J., according to signs posted on the rig.
According to reports, the crane caught fire on top of 550 10th Ave. near 41st St. at about 7:30 a.m. After catching fire, the arm of the crane became detached and fell in an arc onto cars along 10th Ave. The crane arm slammed into a building across the street before swinging and striking the building it was once connected to and falling toward the sidewalk, stunning video of the collapse shows.
A crane owned by Lomma collapsed on the Upper East Side near E. 91st St. back in May 2008, killing two workers. The city temporarily revoked Lomma’s crane operator's license as a result. Videos posted on social media show the mangled arm on the sidewalk and thick black plumes of smoke pouring from the top of the crane as firefighters shot water onto the fire from adjoining buildings. “Sounded like lightning or an explosion from the top of a crane on 41st St.,” Josh Page tweeted. “Firefighters hosing it down from the building parallel.”
