11.10.2012

Tower crane fatality

Strong winds brought a tower crane down across the main road/promenade and onto a passing car yesterday evening in Larnaca, Cyprus killing a woman and seriously injuring her husband. It also damaged several parked cars.
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The crane came down across the main road on the Larnaca front

While the severe weather conditions caused the crane, which had been working on the Town Hall, to collapse, it did not bring down scaffolding on the building or cause other disruption.

Emergency services had to hire a mobile crane to lift the tower crane off the crushed car in order to rescue the woman, 65, and her husband, 67, who are British citizens and permanent residents on the island.

They were taken to the local hospital having suffered serious injuries below the waist. Unfortunately the woman later succumbed to her injuries. It is still unknown what condition the husband is in.

The 44 metre tower crane, reported to be a Liebherr supplied by local company TC Tower Cranes, was set up with a compact cruciform outrigger base from which the counterweight blocks became detached as the crane went over in the strong winds. TC Tower Cranes says it has launched its own investigation into the incident.
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The crane was erected on a freestanding outrigger type base

UPDATE
We have received the following photographs from a reader which show exactly what happened.
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This incident could have been so much worse

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The top of the crane narrowly missed a shelter that contained seven people at the time

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An A.Soulis crane was called in to help with the rescue and to remove the debris