27.01.2008

Four climb Belfast tower crane

Four men were arrested yesterday after they scaled a tower crane in Belfast city centre.

The fire service's rescue support unit helped remove the men, aged 17, 18, 20 and 23, from the crane, which is working on a new hotel off Clarence Street. A number of roads were cordoned off for several hours while the rescue operation was carried out.
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One of the four men who scaled the crane

Police said the prank had been "madness" and had diverted much needed resources away from other calls for several hours. The men climbed the outside of the crane in order to get past locked gates to the internal ladder.

They were spotted shortly after they reached the top of the crane, two of them climbed down voluntarily while the other two stayed put. The fire and rescue rope team that is trained to carry out operations at height, were given the job of getting them down.

The men have since been arrested by police for "disorderly behaviour".

Update

The contractor involved claims that the four caused £10,000 of damage to the crane with the possible cost escalating through downtime as it is fixed.