21.02.2022
Crane over in Bremen
A tower crane collapsed onto a building in the Bremen harbour area on Saturday night during a storm with high winds.
Reports state that the crane, a Potain MDT, was rigged with a hook height of 55 metres, and that the failure occurred to the tower at height of around 10 metres. The crane wreckage was removed over the weekend. No one was hurt in the incident, although the driver of a passing truck had a lucky escape after the crane struck his vehicle.
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The scene on Sunday
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A view from one of the platforms working on the recovery
The building is the site of new residential development by the Zech Group. The video below was taken during the recovery.
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FAO Kurt Zech - CEO of Zech Group.
4 August-Bebel-Allee 1
28329 Bremen
Germany
Good Morning Mr Zech,
As your Tower Crane collapse in Bremen on 190222 had the potential to kill many innocent people on the ground it follows that someone should speak up for Safety, expressly Worker Safety.
Therefore as I personally have researched and recorded 1109 Crane Incidents which has already Killed 610 Men and Women worldwide since Monday 7 May 2007. It is my submission to you that Worker Safety is important, very important and too important to leave to chance.
1. Therefore your companys Fatal Tower Crane collapse in Bremen on Sat 190222 is Tower Crane Incident 222 in my 14yr Database of 1109 Crane and Lifting Incidents.
2. Wind and Expressly Gusts of Wind was a significant causal factor in 114 yes 114 of these Tower Crane incidents worldwide with many fatalities as a result.
3. Please investigate this incident from A to Z and publish your Final Report on this excellent website. So that the Crane Industry Worldwide can learn from it please ?
Finally and in closing, an Accident is only an Accident if it is Accidental, that is a not foreseeable incident such as Lightning. However if the incident is Foreseeable such as a Big Storm with High Winds then the resulting Tower Crane collapse is not accidental because it was foreseeable. The fact that you did not intend it to occur does not make this potential fatal incident an Accident.
Should the Crane Industry continue like this, then you and your colleagues will not get Employers Liability Insurance at any price.
Thank you Kind Regards
Mike Ponsonby