20.07.2010

Operator survives 100m fall

A female tower crane operator has survived after her cab fell around 100 metres to the ground.

From what we can gather the accident occurred on July 5th when a five man team (including the operator) was climbing the crane in Leshan, Sichuan province in south-west China.
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The wreckage of the crane top

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Rescuers took 30 minutes to free the operator

The top of the crane became detached and plummeted to the ground with the operator still in the cab. Emergency crews were on the scene and managed to free her after around 30 minutes. She was suffering from a number of injuries, but none of them life threatening.
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The tower with its missing top

We understand that two of the other four also fell with the crane top and did not survive, while two clung to the tower and managed to climb to safety.