04.06.2026

Crane causes electrical incident

Two men were seriously injured last Wednesday, when the boom of a large All Terrain crane lifting concrete bridge components came too close to an overhead power line on a closed section of the B14 highway near Backnang - north of Stuttgart, Germany.
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According to the police the electricity arced to the crane, the driver remained in is cab and was unhurt. However, two men working with the crane and standing below, were airlifted to local hospitals.
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A representative speaking for the emergency services said: “We assume that the crane did not touch the power line. However, even an electric arc can be life threatening due to the high temperatures, radiation, the shock wave, and metal particles. When we arrived, the safety distance between the crane and the power line had been restored. We therefore only had to assist the rescue service with the rescue operation.”

The Stuttgart public prosecutor's office has also commissioned an expert report to determine the cause of the issue.