08.07.2011

Enschede stadium collapse

A roof collapsed yesterday at the home stadium of FC Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands killing one and injuring up to 12 others.

Early reports in the UK press blamed the collapse on a crane hitting the new structure. However we were unable to confirm this at all locally and have seen several more recent reports that indicate an unrelated structural failure. What is certain is that as of last night all of those who might know were stating that the cause of the collapse was unknown.
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Two boom lifts were hit by the falling roof, one of which was overturned

What we do know is that two JLG booms belonging to rental company Riwal were struck by the falling roof, with one of them hit hard enough to overturn it. We do not know if the deceased – aged 31 – was in the platform at the time or if he was one of the construction workers on or under the roof.

The stadium is undergoing an expansion with 6,000 more seats being added to take it up to 30,000. There are a good number of cranes, telehandlers and aerial lifts on site and to reiterate- as of last night there was no official suggestion that any of the lift equipment was involved in this tragic accident.
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The stadium is undergoing an expansion with several cranes, telehandlers and aerial lifts employed