A tower crane collapsed onto a shopping centre in the town of Arica, in the far north of Chile on Saturday January 25th.
The site alongside the Costa Arica shopping centre has two tower cranes in place, it looks as though the one that the top of the crane came down as it was either being installed or dismantled. Some of the installation crew had to be rescued from a rest platform near the top of the tower in a state of shock. The counterweight came down with such force it punched through the tarmac of the parking lot into the level below, while the rest of the crane crashing into parked cars.
The crane operator died in the incident, while seven others were injured, two of them, seriously. We understand that the crane came down on the Smart Fit gym in the centre, and fortunately it was closed at the time, otherwise the number of fatalities could have been far worse.
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