05.03.2006

Tower crane top falls in Tel Aviv

A crane driver and his colleague were killed and eight other people injured when the entire top of a 130 metre tower crane attached to Tel Aviv's Neveh Tzedek Tower construction site broke loose from its bearing and crashed into a building and onto the road last week...

According to police sources, workers at the site had recently warned that the crane was not in good operating condition. The building engineer and several others were detained for questioning by the police, who said it was too early to tell what had caused the accident.

Police and rescue services quickly arrived at the site and sealed off the road, creating heavy traffic blockages in the surrounding area. Police dogs were also brought to the site to search for any additional workers who might have been buried by debris.

One of the dead workers was named as Alex Ibshin, 44, from Tel Aviv; by press time the police hadn't published the name of the other person who died. Six of the eight people injured worked for the construction company. They were all taken to local hospitals.

According to a police spokesperson, the building under construction is 26 stories high, and the crane fell from a height of 130 meters. Three people were in the crane at the time - the two who died and a third who was able to climb down from the tower.