04.07.2007

Struck by lightning

David Cone, 22, a tower craner operator with Select tower cranes, was placing concrete on Ipswich Waterfront yesterday with his 70 metre crane, when a bolt of lightning hit the crane.

The lightning travelled down the hoist rope to the skip of concrete near the ground which two construction workers had been holding. It jumped from the skip earthing into the wet concrete.

Cone, from Lowestoft, said “It was pretty lively up there, we had to stop work for a while because lightning hit the crane. There was a big bang and all of a sudden there was a flash of white. It went down the ropes and through the skip and boiled the concrete so we couldn't use it.”

“Everyone was okay. They ducked for cover. The guys on the ground saw the skip had been hit. It was a scary moment.”